Credit: MIT Sloan
Press
Former SEC Chair Gary Gensler named Professor of the Practice at the MIT Sloan School Of Management
By
Gensler will join both the Global Economics and Management Group and the Finance Group with a focus on artificial intelligence, finance, financial technology, and public policy and will co-direct the FinTechAI@CSAIL initiative
Cambridge, Mass., January 27, 2025 — MIT Sloan School of Management today announced the return of Gary Gensler as Professor of the Practice in the Global Economics and Management Group, jointly with the Finance Group. He will teach and conduct research on artificial intelligence, finance, financial technology, and public policy.
Gensler will also be co-director of the FinTechAI@CSAIL initiative within MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, along with Professor Andrew W. Lo. The initiative will enable member companies to work with leading MIT researchers to explore new AI technologies, opportunities, technical challenges, and applications within finance.
Gensler has had a distinguished career in the public sector, on Wall Street, and at MIT. He most recently served as Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the Biden Administration where he led oversight of the $120 trillion U.S. capital markets.
“I am honored to return to MIT, whose faculty, staff, and students have long been at the cutting edge of research and technology,” said Gensler upon his appointment. “I’m thrilled to once again collaborate with MIT’s distinguished team of scholars creating a better future for all through artificial intelligence, finance, and technology.”
Immediately before joining the SEC, Gensler was Professor of the Practice of Global Economics and Management, co-director of MIT’s FinTech@CSAIL, and senior advisor to the MIT Media Lab Digital Currency Initiative. He won the MIT Sloan Outstanding Teacher Award based upon student nominations for the 2018–19 academic year.
Prior to first joining MIT in 2018, he served as Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where he led the Obama Administration’s reform of the $400 trillion swaps market after the 2008 global financial crisis. Previously, he was Senior Advisor to U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes, helping to draft the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002); served as Assistant Secretary and then Undersecretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance during the Clinton Administration; and co-authored The Great Mutual Fund Trap, a book on personal finance. From 2017–2019, he served as Chairman of the Maryland Financial Consumer Protection Commission.
Earlier in his career, Gensler worked at Goldman Sachs for 18 years, where he became a partner in the mergers and acquisition department, led fixed income and currency trading in Asia, and lastly was co-head of finance worldwide. Gensler earned his undergraduate degree in economics summa cum laude from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also received an M.B.A He is a recipient of the 2014 Tamar Frankel Fiduciary Prize.
John C Head III dean (interim), said, “We are happy to welcome Gary back to MIT Sloan after his service at the SEC. I know that our students will benefit tremendously from the opportunity to learn from him, with the breadth of experience he has had in his career.”
winner of the 2024 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship, and Head of the Global Economics and Management Group at the MIT Sloan School of Management, said, “Gary was a fantastic member of the MIT faculty before joining the SEC as Chair. My colleagues and I are delighted to welcome him back. He and I will be teaching a brand-new course together, and we look forward to engaging with as many students as possible on a wide range of issues of great importance to the global economy.”
the Gordon Y Billard Professor of Finance and Head of the Finance Group at the MIT Sloan School of Management, said, “We are pleased to have Gary return to the faculty at MIT Sloan. It is rare to have a true scholar who brings as much real-world experience as he. In his previous time at MIT, he proved a resource to both faculty and students. I am certain, especially after his service to the country as chair of the SEC, that his contributions will continue upon his return.”
Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor, Professor of Finance, and the Director of the Laboratory for Financial Engineering at the MIT Sloan School of Management, said, “Gary’s return to MIT—in a period where technology is rapidly reshaping the world—couldn’t have come at a better time. He’s a proven leader with deep experience in both public service and the private sector, and I’m honored to be co-directing FinTech@CSAIL with him once again.”
About the MIT Sloan School of Management
The MIT Sloan School of Management is where smart, independent leaders come together to solve problems, create new organizations, and improve the world. Learn more at mitsloan.mit.edu.
About the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab
For more than 50 years, CSAIL—the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory—has pioneered new approaches to computing that improve how people work, play, and learn.
CSAIL researchers imagine and build the future by developing fundamental new technologies and conducting basic research that furthers the field of computing and its applications.
