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Tag: MIT

  • Major donor calls on UPenn president to resign for disastrous testimony on antisemitism, threatening $100 million gift

    Major donor calls on UPenn president to resign for disastrous testimony on antisemitism, threatening $100 million gift

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    The walls appear to be caving in on the University of Pennsylvania’s president, Liz Magill, who faces scathing criticism over her performance at a House hearing earlier this week.

    Prominent donor Ross Stevens threatened to claw back a $100 million donation. The university’s board of trustees held an emergency meeting Thursday. And the powerful Wharton Board of Advisors that leads the university’s prominent business school called for a leadership change at the university.

    Magill remained president after the hastily arranged board gathering concluded Thursday, a source familiar with the proceedings told CNN. But Magill faced a rebellion from Wharton’s Board of Advisors, and a growing coalition of donors, politicians and business leaders who denounced her testimony.

    During Tuesday’s House hearing, Magill, along with the presidents of Harvard and MIT, did not explicitly say that calling for the genocide of Jews would necessarily violate their code of conduct on bullying or harassment. Instead, they explained it would depend on the circumstances and conduct.

    Magill had already been under fire from prominent donors, faculty, students and alumni prior to Tuesday’s hearing after multiple incidents of antisemitism on campus in recent months – and what critics have said was a tepid response to those incidents.

    Mega-donor threatens to pull funds

    A major donor called on Magill to resign and threatened to rescind stock, costing the university $100 million if she doesn’t.

    Wall Street CEO Ross Stevens sent a letter on Thursday to Penn threatening to take steps that would cost the Ivy League school approximately $100 million if Magill stays on as president, CNN has learned.

    Stevens, a Penn alum and CEO of Stone Ridge Holdings, argues he has clear grounds to rescind $100 million worth of shares in his company that are currently held by Penn. He specifically cites Magill’s disastrous testimony before Congress earlier this week.

    “Absent a change in leadership and values at Penn in the very near future, I plan to rescind Penn’s Stone Ridge shares to help prevent any further reputational and other damage to Stone Ridge as a result of our relationship with Penn and Liz Magill,” Stevens said in a note to his employees on Thursday obtained by CNN.

    Lawyers at Davis Polk, representing Stone Ridge, wrote a letter to Penn that cites an agreement between the school and the firm. That agreement, according to Stone Ridge, gives the firm the ability to retire the shares for cause, including potential damage to Stone Ridge’s “reputation, character, or standing.”

    Wharton calls for a leadership change

    The Wharton Board of Advisors, comprised of a who’s who group of business leaders, has joined the growing chorus of voices calling for Magill’s immediate ouster.

    “As a result of the University leadership’s stated beliefs and collective failure to act, our Board respectfully suggests to you and the Board of Trustees that the University requires new leadership with immediate effect,” the Wharton Board of Advisors wrote in a letter sent directly to Magill.

    The letter, which appears to have been sent Wednesday, specifically cites Magill’s disastrous testimony.

    “In light of your testimony yesterday before Congress, we demand the University clarify its position regarding any call for harm to any group of people immediately, change any policies that allow such conduct with immediate effect, and discipline any offenders expeditiously,” the letter reads.

    The strong criticism comes from an influential group of Penn alumni. Its members include billionaire NFL owner Josh Harris, former Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky, Related Companies CEO Jeff Blau, Blackstone exec David Blitzer and BET CEO Scott Mills, according to the Wharton Board of Advisors website.

    “Our board has been, and remains, deeply concerned about the dangerous and toxic culture on our campus that has been led by a select group of students and faculty and has been permitted by University leadership,” the Wharton board letter said.

    Board holds an emergency meeting

    The University of Pennsylvania’s board of trustees held an emergency meeting Thursday.

    One source familiar with the board’s proceedings told CNN Scott Bok, the chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees, was expected Thursday or Friday to talk to Magill about possibly stepping down. But another source with close knowledge of the board’s activity denied that meeting was taking place and said the board was not close to holding discussions with Magill about a leadership change.

    A spokesperson for Penn said there is no immediate plan for the board to replace Magill.

    “There is no board plan for imminent leadership change,” the spokesperson said.

    Penn currently does not have an interim president lined up if Magill were to step down, a source said.

    Damage control

    After the fallout from Tuesday’s hearing, Magill attempted to clarify her message on Wednesday, posting a video on X where the Penn leader said she should have focused on the “irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate.”

    Magill said that Penn’s policies “need to be clarified and evaluated,” adding that in her view: “It would be harassment or intimidation.”

    Harvard President Claudine Gay similarly issued a statement Wednesday clarifying her comments.

    “There are some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students,” Gay said in the new statement posted on X. “Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account.”

    In a Thursday statement to CNN, MIT’s deputy director of media relations, Sarah McDonnell, said the university “rejects antisemitism in all its forms.” Harvard on Wednesday clarified its president’s testimony, echoing Magill and MIT.

    However, the executive committee of MIT said in a statement it is standing by its president, Sally Kornbluth.

    “The MIT Corporation chose Sally to be our president for her outstanding academic leadership, her judgment, her integrity, her moral compass, and her ability to unite our community around MIT’s core values. She has done excellent work in leading our community, including in addressing antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of hate, which we reject utterly at MIT. She has our full and unreserved support,” the statement said.

    Still, the hearing on Tuesday drew strong and widespread criticism.

    House committee is investigating

    Magill’s future hangs in the balance as a House committee is investigating Penn’s actions.

    Following the board’s virtual meeting, the House Education and Workforce Committee launched an investigation with full subpoena power into Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik announced Thursday afternoon.

    “We will use our full Congressional authority to hold these schools accountable for their failure on the global stage,” Stefanik said in a statement. “After this week’s pathetic and morally bankrupt testimony by university presidents when answering my questions, the Education and Workforce Committee is launching an official Congressional investigation.”

    Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx, chairwoman of the committee, called the testimony “absolutely unacceptable.”

    “Committee members have deep concerns with their leadership and their failure to take steps to provide Jewish students the safe learning environment they are due under law,” Foxx said in a statement.

    Growing calls to resign

    A growing number of politicians and business leaders are also calling on Magill to step aide.

    A university spokesperson told CNN the board of trustees organized Thursday’s virtual gathering at approximately 2 pm ET Wednesday. That came just hours after Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro condemned Magill’s testimony as “shameful” and urged the board of trustees to meet and decide whether that testimony lives up to the school’s values. Despite its name, Penn is a private school and is not run by the state.

    Former US Ambassador Jon Huntsman Thursday night called on the board of trustees to remove Magill.

    “Let’s make this great institution shine once again,” Huntsman said in a statement shared exclusively with CNN on Thursday evening. “We are anchored to the past until the trustees step up and completely cut ties with current leadership. Full stop.”

    Huntsman, the former governor of Utah, was a 1987 graduate and former UPenn trustee. In October, he blasted Penn’s response to antisemitism on campus and promised to halt his family’s donations to the university. Now, Huntsman is going further, calling for a complete leadership change.

    “At this point it’s not even debatable,” Huntsman said. “Just a simple IQ test.”

    Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, called the testimony “catastrophic and clarifying” and said Magill’s attempt to clean-up her testimony “looked like a hostage video, like she was speaking under duress.”

    “I understand why the governor of Pennsylvania and so many of the trustees don’t have confidence in her. I don’t have confidence anymore that Penn is capable, under this leadership, of getting it right,” Greenblatt told CNN’s Kate Bolduan, adding that he has spoken with Magill.

    The ADL CEO said his organization did not have a position on whether or not the university presidents should step down – until Tuesday’s hearing.

    “But when I watched these presidents flail and feebly, with legal-ish answers respond to a simple line of questioning, we have lost confidence with them,” he said.

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren told CNBC on Thursday that “advocating for genocide is fundamentally wrong, full-stop. We just can’t have this.”

    The Massachusetts Democrat said she’s worried that Americans can’t disagree with each other. “We have unleashed hate in this country – and that is wrong,” Warren said.

    Asked if the college presidents should step down, Warren said: “If you can’t lead, if you can’t stand up and say what’s right and wrong – very much in the extreme cases, and these are the extreme cases – then you’ve got a problem.”

    Billionaire Elon Musk, who graduated from Penn, added to the criticism.

    “I am a Penn alum and this is indeed shameful,” Musk said on X on Wednesday.

    Of course, Musk himself faced condemnation last month after agreeing with an antisemitic post. Musk later apologized for what he called his “dumbest” ever social media post.

    Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Thursday said she agrees with calls for the presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania to resign, arguing they are “failing in the worst way.”

    “Their statements were abhorrent,” Gillibrand told Fox News, referring to Tuesday’s hearing in the House. “Trying to contextualize what constitutes harassment? Jewish students are terrified on these campuses.”

    The New York Democrat said that in some cases, students have been told to stay in their dorm rooms because their safety couldn’t be guaranteed.

    “That is the definition of harassment: To instill fear and to not have a climate where kids can thrive and go to school and feel protected. They are failing in the worst way as college presidents,” Gillibrand said. “You cannot call for the genocide of Jews, the genocide of any group of people, and not say that that’s harassment.”

    This story has been updated with additional developments.

    CNN’s Mikayla Bouchard contributed to this report.

    For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

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  • University presidents face backlash for testimony in antisemitism hearing

    University presidents face backlash for testimony in antisemitism hearing

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    University presidents face backlash for testimony in antisemitism hearing – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill is facing calls to resign over her testimony during a congressional hearing on antisemitism earlier this week. The House Education and Workforce Committee announced Thursday it is launching an investigation into UPenn, MIT and Harvard, with House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik calling their presidents’ testimony “pathetic and morally bankrupt.” Nikole Killion has more.

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  • Top University Presidents Face Backlash After Viral Comments On Antisemitism

    Top University Presidents Face Backlash After Viral Comments On Antisemitism

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    Facing backlash from members of Congress and even the White House, the presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania released statements Wednesday clarifying their schools’ positions on the limits of free speech on campus as the war in Gaza continues.

    The day before, a congressional hearing about campus antisemitism had yielded a viral clip of university leaders prevaricating on whether calls for the genocide of Jewish people would violate student conduct codes.

    The conversation was complicated by the fact that some consider certain pro-Palestinian terms and phrases, like “intifada” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” as advocating for the genocide of Jews. However, many academics and Palestinian rights advocates have challenged that argument.

    When pressed on whether such chants would constitute unacceptable bullying and harassment, the presidents of Harvard, UPenn and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said their universities’ responses would depend on the context of the language, including whether it was targeted and pervasive.

    Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) ― who in the past has sponsored legislation to protect freedom of expression on college campuses ― made clear during her questioning of the university leaders that she was referring to such chants. Stefanik pushed back on MIT’s president, Sally Kornbluth, who said she hadn’t heard calls for the genocide of Jews on campus. “You’ve heard chants for intifada,” Stefanik responded.

    Stefanik also pressed Harvard President Claudine Gay on the term.

    “You understand that this call for intifada is a call to commit genocide against the Jewish people in Israel and globally, correct?” she asked.

    “That type of hateful speech is personally abhorrent to me,” Gay responded, adding that it was “at odds with the values of Harvard.” But she maintained that “we embrace a commitment to expression even of views that are objectionable, offensive, hateful.”

    Outrage ensued ― even though the university leaders condemned antisemitism repeatedly throughout the four-hour hearing, and even though each of the schools has established initiatives against antisemitism in recent weeks.

    “It’s unbelievable that this needs to be said: Calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement. And Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) referred to UPenn President Liz Magill’s testimony as a failure of leadership, urging the university’s board to meet and determine whether her remarks “represent the values” of the school.

    Within a day, two of Tuesday’s congressional witnesses had released statements stating they would “clarify” their rules, or that anyone who threatened Jewish students would be held “accountable.”

    “There was a moment during yesterday’s congressional hearing on antisemitism when I was asked if a call for the genocide of Jewish people on our campus would violate our policies,” Magill said in a video message Wednesday.

    “In that moment, I was focused on our University’s longstanding policies aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which say that speech alone is not punishable,” she went on. “I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil — plain and simple.”

    Magill said that a call for genocide of Jews would constitute harassment and intimidation in her view, and that Penn’s conduct policies, which for decades have been “guided by the Constitution and the law,” would now “need to be clarified and evaluated.”

    Gay put out a statement on Wednesday as well.

    “There are some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students,” Gay said. “Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account.”

    Kornbluth, MIT’s president, does not appear to have addressed the backlash from this week’s hearing.

    Instances of antisemitism on college campuses, and elsewhere around the country, have increased in the weeks since Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, and Israel’s subsequent air strikes and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.

    But free speech advocates have warned that the crackdown on speech critical of Israel risks chilling free and open debate on college campuses. Jewish students at Penn are facing potential disciplinary consequences after screening “Israelism” ― a film produced by a Jewish crew that follows Jewish Americans as they reevaluate their relationship to Zionism ― over objections from administrators.

    And pro-Palestinian activists at Harvard told HuffPost that they felt abandoned by university leadership after a pro-Israel group accused them of antisemitism and displayed their names and faces on a billboard box truck that drove around campus.

    Will Creeley, the legal director of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told The New York Times that the university presidents’ comments at Tuesday’s hearings were “legally correct” and that “it does depend on context.”

    But Creeley said he was frustrated that the presidents appeared to “discover free speech scruples while under fire at a congressional hearing.” (Harvard and Penn ranked worst and second-worst on FIRE’s college rankings this year for “open environments for free speech,” though some students on both campuses objected to parts of the group’s analysis. MIT ranked near the middle of the list.)

    Others criticized what they called the “demagoguery” from Stefanik.

    Jay Michaelson, a rabbi and Daily Beast correspondent, noted the contentious debate over the definition of calls for genocide. “There is no ‘Yes or No’ answer to this question, because the answer depends on the context,” he argued, referring to Stefanik’s line of questioning.

    “What about when someone makes a statement in a classroom or a college lecture? If someone insists, in a classroom discussion, that Israel as a country is an illegitimate colonial outpost and should be ‘wiped off the map’?” Michaelson wrote. “That sounds like a political statement to me, not an act of bullying or intimidation. But if a mob marches into a Shabbat service and shouts the same slogan, then that’s clearly harassment and in violation of the policy. Context matters.”

    Stefanik has called for Magill’s ouster as Penn’s president. Michaelson concluded: “It’s cancel culture when it’s me, but not when it’s thee.”

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  • College presidents to testify in Congress about antisemitism on campuses

    College presidents to testify in Congress about antisemitism on campuses

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    Washington — Three college presidents will testify in Congress on Tuesday about how they have handled antisemitic incidents on their campuses since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel. 

    Harvard University’s Claudine Gay, the University of Pennsylvania’s Liz Magill and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sally Kornbluth will testify before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, as college campuses continue to be roiled by protests and tensions related to the Israel-Hamas war. 

    A number of reported antisemitic incidents have prompted accusations that universities are not doing enough to protect students. 

    The committee’s chairwoman, Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, said administrators “have largely stood by, allowing horrific rhetoric to fester and grow” amid “countless examples of antisemitic demonstrations on college campuses.” 

    There has also been an increase in the number of Islamophobic incidents in the country, but the hearing announcement does not mention whether there are plans to investigate Islamophobia on campuses. 

    After the Hamas terrorist attack, a number of student organizations at Harvard released a statement blaming Israel for the bloodshed, drawing backlash from prominent alumni and U.S. lawmakers. Harvard leaders were then criticized for being too slow to condemn the student organizations and not doing so more forcefully. 

    A number of antisemitic incidents have been reported at the University of Pennsylvania, including “vile” messages that were projected onto campus buildings and “disturbing” emails that threatened violence against members of the campus’ Jewish community. The FBI was alerted to the threats, according to the school’s president. 

    MIT has suspended a number of students from nonacademic activities after protesters refused to leave a campus building, bringing criticism that the punishment did not go far enough. Jewish students have said they feared for their safety and were physically blocked from attending classes. 

    The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, among other schools, after receiving alleged complaints of antisemitism and Islamophobia. 

    How to watch the hearing about antisemitism on college campuses 

    • What: The presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology testify on antisemitic incidents on their campuses
    • Date: Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023 
    • Time: 10:15 a.m. EST 
    • Online stream: Live on CBS News in the player above or on your mobile or streaming device 

    Note: Streaming plans are subject to change

    Caitlin Yilek

    Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at cbsnews.com and is based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.

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  • How the workforce of the future will be more like an ‘ecosystem’

    How the workforce of the future will be more like an ‘ecosystem’

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    CFOs have become central in steering business strategy and value creation. But that task is about to get a lot more comprehensive in scale.

    The workforce is changing into an ecosystem, consisting of full- and part-time employees, but also includes robots, chatbots, contractors, gig workers, professional service firms, app developers, and even customers. These internal and external elements all contribute to an organization’s value creation and strategic goals, according to the new book, Workforce Ecosystems: Reaching Strategic Goals with People, Partners, and Technologies.

    Two of the authors explained their research on Thursday during MIT Sloan Management Review’s (SMR) virtual summit on the future of work. “When Amazon decided it wanted to have its own transportation system, it didn’t hire people,” said Elizabeth J. Altman, coauthor and an associate professor of management in the Manning School of Business at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. “It started subcontracting, often with mom and pops. These people add value to Amazon, but don’t work for Amazon.”

    She continued, “If you think about YouTube or TikTok, those content creators are contributing to the business in a very meaningful way, and enabling the business to go forward. For many platform businesses that rely on contributions from users, those users absolutely, in my mind, are part of the workforce ecosystem.” However, “the relationship between the company and their customers or contributors is a little more complex than it was when a company was just selling a product to customers,” Altman said.

    The years of research culminating in a book included global surveys of more than 10,000 business leaders across industries, and more than 100 executive interviews, with 26% of the businesses surveyed earning more than $1 billion in revenue. 

    When external contributors are considered to be part of an organization’s workforce, that’s “a non-trivial shift,” said David Kiron, a coauthor and editorial director of MIT SMR. “It’s so nontrivial that three-quarters of managers agree that effectively managing these external folks is critical to their organization’s success,” Kiron said. “It’s especially true for organizations like Cisco and Novartis, and some of these other organizations that have tens of thousands of external contributors getting the work done.” 

    However, based on their research, just 30% of business leaders agreed that their organization is sufficiently prepared to manage a workforce that relies on all of these external contributors. “Those leaders who are taking this issue seriously consider it to be a holy grail, or a potential strategic differentiator for them to figure this problem out,” Kiron said. 

    Regarding a workforce ecosystem framework, four vital themes emerged in their research: management practices, technology enablers, integration architectures, and leadership approaches. Senior leaders and business unit leaders have to manage these themes. And the departments—HR, procurement, finance, legal, and IT—closely collaborate in a cross-functional approach for the workforce, internally and externally. There can’t be departmental silos in this approach. 

    However, a workforce ecosystem comes with challenges like issues of ethics, compliance, and regulatory matters. “The third part of the book is about ethics and social responsibilities and corporate social responsibility,” Altman explained. “We’re very aware that this structure leads to all kinds of questions. Like, who owns the intellectual property, for example. That is an ongoing discussion. There are different mechanisms for working with it. It’s not that it hasn’t been addressed at all, but I think these discussions continue to evolve as workforce ecosystems become more prevalent.”

    In a workforce ecosystem, I asked the authors if company strategy and value creation ultimately fall under the purview of the CEO and CFO. “We have realized that these discussions move to the C-suite,” Altman said. “They are strategic conversations because they get to the heart of how organizations compete [in their] industry, how they develop new products and services and move into new markets. So yes, ultimately, we think this is a very cross-functional C-level discussion. But we also see it going down deep into an organization.”

    A workforce redefined, for sure.

    Enjoy your weekend. See you on Monday.

    Sheryl Estrada
    sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

    Big deal

    The “Nasdaq 2023 ESG & Climate Survey” is based on feedback from executives in North America and Europe. Companies of varying maturity levels report they are leaning in on sustainability initiatives despite an unclear path forward and with regulation looming on the horizon. Forty-five percent of companies have been tackling ESG strategy for fewer than three years, and 9% of companies have been tackling ESG for more than five years. As companies advance in their journey, teams grow and become more integrated into day-to-day operations and decision-making.

    When asked how the most senior team member responsible for ESG and sustainability was appointed, 47% of executives said the person voluntarily took on responsibilities on top of their own role. Meanwhile, 39% said the team member migrated internally from other teams, and 14% said the person was hired for the role.

    Courtesy of Nasdaq

    Going deeper

    Here are a few Fortune weekend reads:

    “A famous hedge fund chief who managed to net record returns as stocks fell in 2022 says investors should look abroad to profit” by Will Daniel

    “Frank founder sued by JPMorgan for making up customers is in talks with DOJ over fraud charges” by Luisa Beltran

    “Airbnb’s CEO spent 6 months living in his company’s rentals—and found the core problem with his business” by Trey Williams

    “7 ways to bounce back after a bad night’s sleep” by Alexa Mikhail

    Leaderboard

    Here’s a list of some notable moves this week:

    Markus Neubrand was named CFO at Guess?, Inc. (NYSE: GES), effective Aug. 1. Neubrand will succeed interim CFO Dennis Secor. Neubrand currently serves as group CFO of luxury fashion brand MCM Worldwide. Before that, he spent 17 years at Hugo Boss, in roles including managing director of Scandinavia, and group director of financial planning, then COO and CFO. 

    Teresa Chia was named CFO at Vertafore, an insurance technology company. Before joining Vertafore, Chia was a senior partner and managing director at White Mountains Insurance Group, a publicly traded holding company. She was responsible for White Mountains’ direct investing and corporate mergers and acquisitions activity. Before that, Chia was a private equity investor at Permira Advisors, where she focused on investments in the global technology and consumer verticals.

    Tim MacCarrick was named CFO at project44, a supply chain visibility platform. MacCarrick has over 25 years of senior executive experience in finance and operations roles. He’s held both COO and CFO roles at public and private companies including Qlik, Xerox, DLL, and most recently OutSystems. 

    Patricia Kaelin was named CFO at Safe & Green Holdings Corp.(Nasdaq: SGBX), a developer, designer, and fabricator of modular structures, effective May 2. Kaelin served as CFO of Buddies Brand, a privately held consumer packaged goods (CPG) company. Before that, she served as CFO of 1933 Industries, Inc., a publicly traded CPG company. Kaelin also served as CFO of business operations at Clifton Larson Allen, a CPA and consulting firm. 

    Jay Matushak was named CFO at Bright Health Group, Inc. (NYSE: BHG), the technology-enabled health care company, effective May 12. Matushak will succeed Cathy Smith, who is stepping down to pursue another opportunity. Matushak joined Bright Health in 2021. He currently serves as SVP of finance. Matushak also serves as CFO of Bright HealthCare, the company’s insurance business. 

    Michael Dougherty was named CFO at bioAffinity Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIAF; BIAFW), a biotechnology company. Most recently, Dougherty served as CFO of Alexa Business Domains, Amazon’s Alexa AI and Voice division. Before that, Dougherty was chief financial and operating officer of TINT and CFO at Filestack. He also previously served as CFO for Amazon Pay. 

    David Black was named CFO at Proterra Inc. (Nasdaq: PTRA), a commercial vehicle electrification technology company, effective May 16. Karina Padilla, the current CFO, will step down from her role, effective May 15. Black served as a special advisor to the CEO of BWX Technologies, a supplier of nuclear components and fuel to the U.S. government. Before that, he served as SVP and CFO of BWX Technologies. 

    Overheard

    “We continue to see our customers return to us for reasons of the product innovation…in areas like refreshers, iced shaken espresso, cold foam, those are difficult to make at home, they give customers a reason to come in.”

    —Starbucks CFO Rachel Ruggeri told Yahoo Finance.  

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    Sheryl Estrada

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  • A Machine Learning Company in California Using Quantum Computers at Mathlabs Ventures is Building the First Q40 ME Fusion Energy Generator Using Advanced AI & Neural Networks

    A Machine Learning Company in California Using Quantum Computers at Mathlabs Ventures is Building the First Q40 ME Fusion Energy Generator Using Advanced AI & Neural Networks

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    Harvard Mathematicians using Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain and Neural Networks on a Quantum Computer have developed breakthrough algorithms and simulations that will enable the world’s most efficient Fusion Energy Power Plants to be opened 20 years earlier than planned with a Q40 Mechanical Gain by Kronos Fusion Energy Algorithms

    Press Release
    –

    Jan 10, 2022


    IRVINE, Calif., January 10, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Kronos Fusion Energy Algorithms LLC (KFEA-Q40) and MathLabs Ventures announced today that after 60 years of global research, the Fusion Energy industry is now poised to accelerate their growth rapidly to build commercially viable power plants 20 years earlier than planned because of three recent major advances in technology. The three major problems with reaching commercial success in Fusion Energy have recently been overcome with these three new technological advancements that together will make it possible to build efficient Fusion Energy Power Plants on Earth by the mid-2030s. These innovations, ongoing contracts & patents put KFEA’s current valuation at $530m with $1.2B in projected earnings over the next 2 years.

    “We at Kronos are building a world-class team of mathematicians, physicists, scientists and other professionals whose mission is to reverse global warming by helping to make  Fusion Energy commercially viable in the near future,” said Michael Pierce Hoban, the CEO of Kronos Fusion Energy Algorithms

    Recreating the power of the sun on earth in a controlled manner takes computing power, machine learning, artificial intelligence, blockchain, quantum computers, neural networks, and other technological advances that were not even dreamed of 60 years ago when Fusion Energy research began globally. But now, with these three technological breakthroughs, the global competition to design the next-generation Fusion Energy Power Plants that are more efficient than today’s carbon-burning power plants is underway in full swing.

    The first technological barrier that was overcome is that the computing power now exists to model the sun in simulations more accurately with the launch of the Summit Supercomputer in Oak Ridge that set the world record in 2018, and in June 2021, Japan’s Fugaka Supercomputer set a new world record of 422 petaflops.

    The second technological barrier that was overcome in September 2021 was the announcement of the most powerful magnet ever created on earth (https://news.mit.edu/2021/MIT-CFS-major-advance-toward-fusion-energy-0908). This is the first magnet with enough power capable of containing a fast-moving plasma field at heats in excess of 150M degrees Celsius without touching and melting the containment barrier.

    The third technological barrier that has been the most difficult to overcome is the 1% efficiency rate (Q1 Mechanical Gain) of the top fusion energy demo reactors on earth today. The first two breakthroughs will enable the world’s top Fusion energy designers to reach a 25% efficiency rate (Q25 Mechanical Gain) by 2050. This has been a major technological barrier because there has been no fusion energy reactor solution that has been proposed in the world that exceeds 25% efficiency until now.

    Kronos Fusion Energy Algorithms LLC announced that after five years studying the global research in Fusion Energy, we have developed advanced algorithms and simulations to achieve a 40% efficiency rate (Q40 Mechanical Gain) for Commercial Fusion Energy Power Plants that will enable a 20-year advancement in the launch dates of the world’s first Fusion Energy Power Plants that are more efficient than today’s carbon burning power plants. Our algorithms and simulations use Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, neural networks, blockchain, quantum computing and other advances to reduce the error rate at a Fusion Energy Reactor from the 15% error rate experienced today at the International Thermodynamic Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France to a 1% error rate after our simulations have optimized the numerous variables to identify the disruptions that cause 31% of the maintenance shutdowns at ITER.

    Kronos Fusion Energy Algorithms: Developing ALGORITHMS & SIMULATIONS to build Micro Fusion Energy Generators with Q40 Mechanical Gain for a CLEAN + LIMITLESS Energy Future

    MEDIA CONTACT:

    PRIYANCA FORD  

    Founder & Chief Strategy Officer at Kronos Fusion Energy Algorithms

    Priyanca_Ford@post.harvard.edu

    Source: MathLabs Ventures

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  • Generation Awarded Grant in MIT Reimagining Pathways to Employment in US Challenge

    Generation Awarded Grant in MIT Reimagining Pathways to Employment in US Challenge

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    Funding to develop pilot programs and partnerships to combat racial and gender inequality in education, workforce

    Press Release
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    updated: Feb 10, 2021


    WASHINGTON, February 10, 2021 (Newswire.com)
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    Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Solve, a marketplace for social impact innovation, today announced Generation USA, a global workforce development nonprofit, as a winner of its 2021 Reimagining Pathways to Employment in the US Challenge and recipient of $125,000 in funding to launch pilot programs across the country in collaboration with US Workforce Boards. The initiative combats racial and gender injustices in the US that continue to hinder the education, employment, and earning potential of historically marginalized communities. 

    MIT Solve—in partnership with the Morgridge Family Foundation, New Profit, and others—created the Reimagining Pathways to Employment in the US Challenge to combat racial and gender inequality. The Challenge is an opportunity to identify, support, and scale promising solutions that accelerate pathways to current and future employment—especially for underserved communities.

    These grants fund the development of validation pilots with innovative US Workforce Boards for the benefit of an anticipated 1 million displaced workers. This funding allows solutions to be offered at no cost to participating workers. MIT Solve will support the development and implementation of these partnerships. In addition to funding, winning teams receive IBM Cloud Credits and virtual coaching with IBM experts.

    Generation USA, in partnership with community colleges and employer partners, transforms the education to employment systems to prepare, place, and support people into life-changing careers that would otherwise be inaccessible. The nonprofit’s reskilling program is delivered at no-cost and designed for workers who are unemployed, underemployed, facing job displacement due to automation, or displaced by the pandemic, with a focus on vulnerable populations and those facing systemic challenges, giving priority to Black and Latinx applicants, women and those who do not have a four-year degree. 

    “Generation is only about six years old. Globally, our organization has trained more than 40,000 people, and by 2030 in the U.S., we’re working to train and place 500,000,” said Sean Segal, CEO of Generation USA. “Work is at the heart of all we are in America. It’s where we spend the majority of our time. It affects our health, our sense of self, our families, our way of life, and the generational impact we’ll have. So for us, getting connected to organizations like MIT Solve, workforce boards, and IBM is an incredible honor and opportunity for us to expand our footprint to make a dent in the unemployment problem plaguing so many communities in our country.”

    The MIT Solve challenge asked the question: “How can workers in the United States attain the knowledge and learn the skills needed to access sustainable jobs and livelihoods in the new economy?” Generation USA and its education model is the solution to this challenge and will launch reskilling pilot programs to:

    • Increase access to high-quality, no-cost learning, skill-building, and training opportunities for those entering the workforce, transitioning between jobs, or facing unemployment.
    • Enable learners to make informed decisions about which pathways and jobs best suit them, including promoting the benefits of non-degree pathways to employment.
    • Implement competency-based models for life-long learning, support, and credentialing.
    • Match current and future employer and industry needs with education providers, workforce development programs, and diverse job seekers.
    • Drive resources and support to Black, Indigenous, and Latinx entrepreneurs and innovators, who receive a fraction of funding in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, despite their frequent proximity to workforce challenges and the systems-focused solutions needed to solve them.

    To learn more about Generation, visit: usa.generation.org.

    About Generation

    Generation is a nonprofit that transforms education to employment systems to prepare, place, and support people into life-changing careers that would otherwise be inaccessible. The global pandemic has led to an unprecedented surge in unemployment. Even before the pandemic, more than 75 million young adults were out of work globally, and three times as many were underemployed—and 375 million workers of all ages needed to learn new skills by 2030. At the same time, certain jobs remain in high-demand, and 40 percent of employers say a skills shortage leaves them with entry-level vacancies. To date, more than 38,000 people have graduated from Generation programs, which prepare them for meaningful careers in 14 countries. Generation works with more than 3,900 employer partners and many implementation partners and funders. For more, visit usa.generation.org.

    About Solve

    Solve is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a mission to solve world challenges. Solve is a marketplace for social impact innovation. Through open innovation Challenges, Solve finds incredible tech-based social entrepreneurs all around the world. Solve then brings together MIT’s innovation ecosystem and a community of Members to fund and support these entrepreneurs to help them drive lasting, transformational impact. Join Solve on this journey at solve.mit.edu.

    Generation USA Media Contact:
    Amy Kauffman
    amy@newswire.com

    Source: Generation USA

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