A chat with MIT, ASU presidents
Cronkite School student guides interview covering first-gen students (both presidents were one), innovation (both universities rank high) and what the other is doing right
At Arizona State University's Undergraduate Commencement on Monday evening, Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Rafael Reif told the Class of 2018 that they now had the ability and responsibility to hold open doors that will allow others to pursue an education and better themselves.
Before Reif's remarks at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix, he and ASU President Michael M. Crow sat down with Adriana De Alba, who graduated this week from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU, for a wide-ranging interview that included discussion of what each institution does to provide access to higher education and what the two university presidents admire about their colleague's institutions.
De Alba started with a topic that ties the three of them together: what it was like to be the first in their families to go to college and how that has affected their leadership at two of the world's most innovative universities.
Providing access to higher education
Mutual admiration society
Full interview
Videos by Deanna Dent and Jamie Ell.
More Sun Devil community
Charles Wexler prize recipient finds passion for math at ASU
Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2024 graduates. Jacob Cooper initially enrolled as a computer science major at Arizona State University, but after taking…
Dean's medalist plans to pursue PhD in mathematics
Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2024 graduates. Scottsdale, Arizona, native Ethan Leventhal started as a math major because he loved math but wasn’t sure…
ASU innovation in society graduate aims to ensure that the future is for everyone
Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2024 graduates. For Idaho native Ava Steckel, having diverse passions is a strength. So when she attended Arizona State…