Alumni energy ambassadors promote energy interest Under the leadership of energy ambassador Doug Spreng ’65, a member of the MIT Alumni Association’s Energy, Environment, and Sustainability Working Group, five other alumni energy ambassadors have been named to carry out energy, environment, and sustainability events and programs focusing on a range of compelling energy topics. Spreng, a veteran of the high-tech industry who is bringing entrepreneurial spirit to his volunteer activities to advance MIT’s energy research, is heading up the group of ambassadors helping to connect the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) to the alumni population. When Spreng retired in Northern California in 2006, he wondered what he could do that could have a significant impact on the world. “I thought about energy,” he says. And so began his new avocation. “Now I’m a professional volunteer.”
The other five alumni were selected in key regions where alumni interest in energy is high and total alumni populations are large. The alumni volunteers include Matt Albrecht MBA ’08 (MIT Club of Boston, Massachusetts); Bo Bai PhD ’06 (MIT Club of New York City, New York); Murli Nathan SM ’86, PhD ’89 (MIT Club of Southern California); Hari Reddy SM ’01 (MIT Club of Washington, DC); and Jimmy Jia ’02, SM ’04 (MIT Club of Puget Sound, Seattle, Washington).
The group meets regularly to discuss the activities and speakers they have recruited locally, and to discuss best practices for generating local interest. The events they have coordinated range from faculty speakers, such as recent “MITEI on the Road” talks given by Donald Sadoway, the John F. Elliott Professor of Materials Chemistry, in both Northern California and Seattle, to energy-focused networking events in Washington, DC, that have drawn large crowds of alumni looking to find others with similar interests.
The energy ambassadors also reach out to the nearly 800 MIT alumni who have identified their energy interests and expertise by registering as part of the Energy, Environment, and Sustainability (EES) Network, part of the MIT Alumni Association’s Infinite Connection online community.
If you would like more information about energy ambassadors or the EES network, please contact alumnienergy@mit.edu. Read more about Spreng and see a video describing his experiences.
Many generous alumni have also made financial contributions to MITEI, and those gifts have enabled MITEI to significantly expand its program of seed grants for early-stage research projects at MIT. Find out more about the seed grant program.
In addition, Natalie Givans ’84, another member of the alumni Energy, Environment, and Sustainability Working Group, showed her support of MITEI by making a financial contribution as an Affiliate member.