What do SEAS alumni go on to do?

Everything and anything.

Our graduates have gone on to take positions at some of the finest research institutions in the world, including: Ben Gurion University (Israel), Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Cornell University, MIT, National University of Singapore,Princeton University, University of California–Berkeley, University of Chicago,University of Sydney (Australia), University of Virginia, and right here at Harvard.

Those pursuing careers in industry and government have worked for technology companies such as Pixar, Google, and IBM; defense contractors such as NorthropGrumman; policy and research organizations such as the National Institutes of Health; banking and investment firms like Citigroup; and environmental consulting groups like Boston-based CDM.

Others have become entrepreneurs. Our graduates started Zappos, Flour Bakery and Meyers+Chang, Tacit Knowledge Systems, and SupplyWorks, Inc. In fact, some of the most well-known companies in the world were started by Harvard graduates—for example, Electronic Arts, 3Com, Sun Microsystems, and Microsoft.

Share Your Experiences

Have you started a company? Climbed the corporate ladder? Done something wild and unexpected? We encourage alumni to come back to campus and speak to undergraduate and graduate students about their experiences. If you are interested, please contact Dean Cherry A. Murray.

Be an Ambassador

We invite all alumni to stay connected with SEAS. Graduates are encouraged to serve as Harvard's science, engineering, and technology ambassadors. You can keep current by brushing up on the latest news and attending symposia and events.

You can stay involved by e-mailing your comments and suggestions to us and by telling prospective students and leaders in academia, industry, and government about the exciting progress in engineering and the applied sciences at Harvard.

Some Notable Alumni

From bakers to animation makers to 21st century shoe salesmen, SEAS alumni continually redefine what it means to be an engineer.

• John Armstrong AB ’56, PhD ’61, former Vice President for Science and Technology at IBM, member of the National Science Board
• Michael Aziz SM ’80, Ph.D. ’84, Gene and Tracy Sykes Professor of Materials and Energy Technologies at SEAS
• Steve Ballmer AB ’77, CEO of Microsoft Corporation
• Leo Beranek Ph.D. (SD ’40), HBS AMP ’65, former President of BBN Technologies, National Medal of Science winner
• Hynd Bouhia Ph.D. ’98, Director, Casablanca Stock Exchange
• Fred Brooks Ph.D. ’56, Kenan Professor of Computer Science at UNC, best known for managing the development of OS/360. He received a Turing Award.
• Joanne Chang AB ’91, Owner of Flour Bakery + Cafe and the Boston restaurant Myers + Chang
• R. Martin Chavez AB ’85, SM ’85, Partner, Goldman Sachs
• George David AB ’64, Former Chairman and CEO of United Technologies
• Shaun Donovan AB ’87, Masters in Architecture and Public Administration ’95, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
• Danielle Feinberg AB ’96, Technical Director, Pixar Animation Studios
• Victor Fung Ph.D. ’71, Chairman, Li and Fung Ltd.
• Bill Gates LLD ’07, Co-Founder and Chairman of Microsoft Corporation
• Paul Graham Ph.D. ’90, programmer, venture capitalist, and essayist, known for his work on Lisp; co-founder of Viaweb (now the Yahoo! Store web system)
• Trip Hawkins AB ’76, Founder of Electronic Arts, 3DO, and Digital Chocolate
• Martha Heitzmann Ph.D. ’97, Senior Executive Vice President of Research and Innovation at Areva Group, a French energy company
• Tony Hsieh AB ’95, founder of online shoe seller Zappos.com
  
• George Joseph SB ’49, Chairman, Mercury General
• Harry Lewis AB ’68, AM ’73, Ph.D ’74, Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at SEAS, Harvard College Professor, former Dean of Harvard College
• David Malan AB ’99, SM ’04, PhD ’07, Lecturer at Harvard, instructor for the introductory computer science course CS 50, one of the most popular on campus
• Joe Marks Ph.D. ’91, VP of R&D, Disney Animation Studios
• Bob Metcalfe Ph.D. ’73, University of Texas Austin, Polaris Partners, National Medal of Technology, co-inventor of the Ethernet
• Ali Partovi AB ’94, CEO of iLike
• Hadi Partovi AB ’94, Senior Vice President, MySpace
• Choon Fong Shih Ph.D. ’73, President of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia
• Allen E. Puckett SB ’39, SM ’41, one of the leading figures in fluid mechanics/ wind tunnels, former Chairman of Hughes Aircraft Corp., National Medal of Science winner
• Dennis Ritchie AB ’63, AM ’65, inventor of the C programming language and co-developer of the UNIX operating system, for which he earned a Turing Award and the National Medal of Technology
• Peter P. Rogers Ph.D. ’66, Gordon McKay Professor of Environmental Engineering at SEAS
• Craig Silverstein AB ’94, Director of Technology, Google
• Alfred Spector AB ’76, Vice President of Research and Special Initiatives, Google
• Guy Steele AB ’75, Distinguished Engineer, Sun Microsystems
• Alan Taub Ph.D. ’79, Vice President of Global Research and Development, General Motors
• Salil Vadhan AB ’95, Director of the Center for Research on Computation and Society at SEAS, Vicky Joseph Professor of Computer Science and Applied Math
• Stephanie Wilson SB ’88, NASA Astronaut
• Daniel Yates AB ’99, CEO of Positive Energy

Find Out More

Keep up with the latest news and events at SEAS and around campus.

• SEAS Newsletter
• SEAS Fact Brochure
• Harvard University website
• HarvardScience website
• Harvard Gazette
• Harvard Crimson
• Harvard Magazine
• Colloquy