Speeches

As delivered on October 2, 2026

Thank you, John [Reed], for your very kind and generous remarks. Coming from you, they mean the world to me.

And thank you, Sally [Kornbluth], and Mark [Gorenberg], and Roger [Altman] for the gift of this meaningful moment. 

As some of you know, I went to Stanford for my PhD and worked there afterward. Stanford is a great place, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to study and work there. 
 
But eventually, I decided to go back to Venezuela, to my family and friends.  

While I was winding down my work, MIT contacted me. They had reached out to Stanford, described the person they were looking for, and they heard that the person they wanted was me. But they also heard that they could forget about me as I had decided to go back to Venezuela.  

Luckily for me, MIT took that as a challenge and started calling me.

To make a long story short, I accepted MIT’s invitation to visit for a couple of days. And I, unexpectedly, fell in love with MIT. Not with the physical campus, which back then was not particularly attractive. But with the people. The faculty I met were so impressive and accomplished, and yet, so friendly, and humble, and so nerdy. I had just discovered, to my surprise, the people I wish to be with.

So, I decided to postpone my return to Venezuela as I wanted to be here, at MIT, to experience being with, “my people.”

Why do I tell you this today? 

Because, as you know well, my story is not unusual. My story is like that of most everyone in this room, and that of most everyone on campus. Because — I wish MIT to continue to be, for many, what it was for me: a place that inspires in every young dreamer, anywhere in the world, the aspiration to be here, to be part of a community intensely dedicated to advancing knowledge, and to using it, to improve the human condition.

Because you — the Corporation and the Administration — have inherited this jewel of a place. You are the custodians of the MIT DNA and of MIT’s role in the world.  

And because it is your job to continue to nurture MIT to be a beacon for the academic world, and for the world at large, particularly at this very difficult time.

I am immensely proud of the decisions MIT has made to protect academic freedom and to protect the independence of science from politics.

The courage of the MIT Administration and the MIT Corporation is admirable, and it gives me great hope for the future.

Thank you all. Thank you, MIT.