About the Club
We represent over 500 alumni/ae in the Naples/Marco Island/Bonita Springs/Ft. Myers/Sarasota area. Our mission is to further the well-being of the Institute and its graduates by increasing the interest of members in the school and in each other. Because of the seasonal nature of many of our members, our activities are mainly held during the "winter" months.
For many years, the Club's activities were mainly focused in the Sarasota area. Since more than half of the alumni/ae are in the Naples area, we decided two years ago to provide more geographical balance for the meetings. This was based on a questionnaire sent to the local alumni/ae. It was clear that people were quite hesitant to travel more than 25 miles for a meeting. It was also clear we needed some revitalization for activities in the Sarasota area.
Last year we got off to a great start. We were fortunate to have Howard W. Johnson, past Chairman and President of MIT, as our kick-off speaker in Naples. We then had an exceptionally interesting meeting at the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Naples. At that meeting, Professor Kip V. Hodges of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences spoke to us MIT's Earth System Initiative. We were then honored to have Dana G. Mead, MIT's Chairman speak to us at a luncheon in Sarasota. This was followed up by a trip to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. We ended the "seasonal year", with a field trip and meeting at the Collier County Water Resources Facility in Naples where Dr. Richard G. Lewis '90 spoke with us about the local water resource challenges. Last year, several of our club members also participated in the MIT sponsored InvenTeam activity (http://web.mit.edu/inventeams/info.html) at Gulf Coast High School in Naples. We also were very pleased to sponsor teachers from both Naples and Sarasota to the Science and Engineering Program for Teachers at MIT (http://web.mit.edu/scienceprogram/program.html). Thank you to all who contributed to that important effort through your Sponsor-Memberships.
This year (2005-2006), we are also looking forward to an exciting year. Our first meeting will be in Sarasota on November 15, 2005. Dr. Paul Kirbas will present an overview of the ethical issues associated with many of the recent advances in the biological sciences. We are close to finalizing a luncheon meeting for January in Naples with a distinguished faculty member from the Institute. We are really honored to be having President Susan Hockfield visiting with us for dinner on February 23, 2006 in Naples and for a lunch on February 24, 2006 in Sarasota. On March 30, 2006 Professor Kerry A. Emanuel of the Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate at MIT, and one of the world's leading experts on hurricane research, will be with for a luncheon meeting.
This coming year we are looking forward to further increasing the participation of our local alumni/ae. It is not too late to add further programs and activities. Please let us know of your ideas and also hopefully your availability to participate.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Bob Gurnitz '60
President
MIT Club of SWFL
