MIT’S Sloan School of Management and Media Lab announce Gensler joint appointment

Cambridge, Mass., January 16, 2018—MIT Sloan School of Management and the MIT Media Lab today announce the joint appointment of Gary Gensler as Senior Advisor to the Director of the Media Lab and Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management.

Gensler, former Chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), will teach graduate classes at MIT Sloan on public policy and the private sector, as well as on the functioning of global markets. He will also work with Media Lab Director Joi Ito, including as senior advisor to the Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative and the Ethics and Governance of AI (Artificial Intelligence) project.

At MIT Sloan, Gensler will join the faculty of the Global Economics and Management Group as a Senior Lecturer, teaching a new course, “Public Policy and the Private Sector”, along with Professor Simon Johnson.

At the Media Lab, Gensler will work on an array of projects, including blockchain technology, the future of accounting, the application of cryptography and machine learning to markets and accounting, and viral communications.

Gensler comes to MIT after a distinguished career in both the public and private sectors. As Chairman of the CFTC, he led the Obama Administration’s post-crisis reform of the $400 trillion over-the-counter derivatives, or swaps, market. Previously, he was Senior Advisor to U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes, helping to draft the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; 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. Gensler also has worked on various political campaigns, most recently as chief financial officer for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. He currently is Chairman of the Maryland Financial Consumer Protection Commission.

Prior to his public service, Gensler worked at Goldman Sachs for 18 years, where he became a partner in the Mergers and Acquisition department, headed up 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.

“I am honored to be joining MIT, whose faculty, staff and students have long been at the cutting edge of research and technology,” said Gary Gensler upon his appointment. “I’m very excited to collaborate with MIT’s distinguished team of scholars trying to create a better future through blockchain technology and the ethics & governance of artificial intelligence.”

Joi Ito, Director and Professor of the Practice in Media Arts and Sciences at MIT’s Media Lab, said Gensler is a thought leader with regard to financial regulation and the organization of markets. “Gary will be a tremendous asset to our research teams, particularly as we explore the emerging standards that will help support the development of more decentralized solutions to the exchange of value, like cryptocurrencies,” Mr. Ito said.

Ezra Zuckerman Sivan, Deputy Dean and Alvin J. Siteman (1948) Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy at MIT’s Sloan School of Management adds: “MIT Sloan has a long tradition of outstanding courses related to global economic policy issues. Gary will strengthen our classroom offerings and the mentoring we provide to students along multiple dimensions. We are delighted to have him join our faculty.”

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.

About the MIT Media Lab

The MIT Media Lab transcends known boundaries and disciplines by actively promoting a unique, intidisciplinary culture that encourages the unconventional mixing and matching of seemingly disparate research areas.