There are no boundaries as to what you can do as M&T alumni…even the sky is not the limit! We are extremely excited to announce Garrett Reisman (M&T ’90) in our second speaker announcement for the 35th Anniversary celebration. Join us in November to hear about Garrett’s experience as a project manager for SpaceX and as a NASA astronaut.

Garrett Reisman is responsible for working with NASA to prepare SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to carry astronauts. He was the SpaceX project manager for CCDev2 – a $75 Million partnership with NASA to mature the Dragon Spacecraft launch abort system and crew accommodations.  Reisman is now the SpaceX project manager for CCiCap – a $440 Million partnership with NASA to complete the design of the Dragon-Falcon 9 crew vehicle, perform hardware testing, ensure astronaut safety and pave the way for NASA certification of the vehicle.

Reisman came to SpaceX from NASA where he served as an astronaut starting in 1998. He has flown on two space shuttle missions, during which, he logged over three months in space including over 21 hours of extravehicular activity (EVA) in three spacewalks. Dr. Reisman served with both the Expedition-16 and the Expedition-17 crews as a Flight Engineer aboard the International Space Station.

Reisman holds a B.S. in Economics and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology. He is an FAA Certified Flight Instructor.

Noah Ready-Campbell (left) and Twice co-founder Calvin Young (right)

Noah Ready-Campbell (M&T ’10) is up to some exciting stuff with his company Twice. We chatted with him about his experience starting a company as an M&T alum!

Tell us a bit about what you’re currently up to.
I’m the co-founder and CEO of Twice (liketwice.com), a “hybrid marketplace” focused on secondhand fashion. We’re a hybrid between online retailers like Amazon and peer-to-peer marketplaces like eBay. Sellers send the inventory to our warehouse, and we buy it upfront. We then merchandise and sell the inventory directly to buyers. Our goal is to create a radically simpler process for sellers, and an “almost-new” shopping experience for buyers.

How has the M&T program helped you start and raise funding for Twice?
Two of our first angel investors were Ken Glass (M&T ’82) and Peter Kuperman (M&T ’96). In addition, IA Ventures led our Series A. Jesse Beyroutey (M&T ’11) is an associate there, and he provided the initial introduction to the firm. Overall, almost half of our investors have some Penn, Wharton or M&T connection.

Did you get any inspiration / advice from other M&T alumni?
Jeff Fluhr (M&T ’96) who founded StubHub and Spreecast, has been a big source of inspiration for me. I first met him at an M&T Brown Bag lunch when I was in college, and his story of StubHub helped convince me that I needed to start a company eventually. Unfortunately we haven’t gotten him to invest in Twice (yet!).

What advice do you have for those M&Ts interested in launching their own startup?
Find an incredible co-founder. I met my co-founder, Calvin Young, when we both worked at Google, and he’s our CTO. His expertise is what has let us build our website and our entire warehouse management system, and his hustle and determination have become a core part of our culture at Twice. I think both of us have found that we do better work together than we ever could alone.

Why are you excited for the M&T 35th Anniversary celebration this November?
To catch up with everyone. I always find that M&Ts are doing some incredible things, and it’s fascinating to learn more about them.

As the excitement for the 35th celebration builds with each new month, don’t forget to take the time to regularly check http://mandtforlife.com/, a blog published by the M&T community to promote awareness of the program and foster engagement between current students and alumni.

In case you missed them, here are a few great highlights from the last couple months:

We Heart M&T: Bahram, Ikshita, Jeff, Elise, and Adam

Why I Chose Penn and M&T: Charles, Class of 2017

Summer Experience at Indego: Written in the Stars

Articles are posted to the blog multiple times a week. If you’d like to contribute, please email Jaime Davis at djaime@wharton.upenn.edu.

M&T for Life!

We are thrilled to announce our first highly regarded speaker at the M&T 35th Anniversary Celebration this November: Wharton professor Adam Grant. Adam’s success as the youngest full professor at Wharton and author of the bestseller Give and Take is both impressive and inspiring. Please join us on Saturday, November 8th to hear all about Adam’s experiences!

Adam Grant is Wharton’s youngest full professor and highest-rated teacher. He has been recognized as one of BusinessWeek’s favorite professors, one of the world’s 40 best business professors under 40, and one of Malcolm Gladwell’s favorite social science writers. His speaking and consulting clients include Google, the NFL, Merck, Pixar, Goldman Sachs, the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, and the U.S. Army and Navy. Adam is the author of Give and Take, a New York Times bestseller that has been translated into two dozen languages and named one of the best books of 2013 by Amazon, Apple, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal-as well as one of Oprah’s riveting reads, Fortune’s must-read business books, Harvard Business Review’s ideas that shaped management, and the Washington Post’s books every leader should read. His research has been featured on the Today Show and in the New York Times magazine cover story, “Is giving the secret to getting ahead?” He received his B.A. from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in organizational psychology from the University of Michigan, and he is a former record-setting advertising director, junior Olympic springboard diver, and professional magician.

The following email was sent to the entire M&T alumni community on February 28, 2014 from Ken Glass (’82) and Allie Rogers (’87). If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions feel free to reach out to them.

Many of you provide much appreciated and important support for the great work that Penn and the Engineering and Wharton schools do. But did you know that due to University vagaries, the Fisher M&T Program gets virtually NO FUNDING from either Wharton or SEAS to run its operations and support its students? That means:

Virtually 100% of the M&T budget is from DONORS LIKE US (including Jerome Fisher!) who make direct donations to the M&T Program!

As chair and fundraising chair of the 35th M&T Anniversary Program, we were surprised to learn all this – but are delighted to invite you to join us in helping – if you, like us, feel that you’d like to give back to M&T in appreciation for what it’s done for you. Please consider supporting M&T directly in addition to the support you consider for Penn, Engineering and Wharton:

SUPPORT M&T AND HONOR DR. HAMILTON!

1) To honor Dr. H’s legacy (he’s retiring in June of 2015!) and celebrate the 35th, we have set dollar and donor goals for the year:

$13,500,000 in total gifts to M&T and 350 total donors to M&T Funds. (We’ve raised over $4,000,000 from over 120 donors so far!)
$7,500,000 to fund the remodel of the M&T Building
$3,000,000 endowed professorship for the M&T Faculty Director
$2,000,000 for the William F. Hamilton Director’s Initiatives Fund
$1,000,000 to support specific M&T core priorities (M&T Gift Fund)

2) A gift of any size to an M&T Fund helps! You can make a gift to the M&T Gift Fund or honor Dr. H’s legacy with a gift to the William F. Hamilton Director’s Initiatives Fund. Gifts can be matched!

3) If you are interested in specific naming or gift opportunities, such as endowing summer internships for M&T students, establishing an M&T Leadership Lecture Series, supporting the new M&T Venture Fund or contributing to the renovation of the M&T Building please contact Katie McCarthy at Penn’s Office of Development (215-898-9422).

ATTEND M&T 2.0 –ACCELERATING EXCELLENCE – AND SUPPORT M&T!

Mark Nov 7 -9, 2014 your calendar! Visit the 35th Anniversary website and contact Jaime Davis in the M&T Office (215-898-4145) to volunteer as a class or regional rep for the 35th or to help out with any of the following:

1. Visit campus and interact with our amazing M&T Students! Did you know the M&T Club hosts over 20 events per year and alumni mentorship and career development are priority activities?
2. Become an M&T Alumni interviewer to help maintain M&T as the strongest program at Penn – and host an admitted student event in April.
3. Attend or host an M&T event in your area – connect with your local alumni. Join the M&T LinkedIn community.
4. Offer a summer internship to one of our terrific M&T students – a “win-win” for your organization and the student – with the potential for support from M&T’s Internship Awards Program

With warm regards,

Ken Glass, M&T ’82
Chair, 35th Anniversary Committee
kenglass@alumni.upenn.edu

Allie Rogers, M&T ’87
Fundraising Chair, 35th Anniversary Committee
allie@aimeepearl.com

By Kim Gallant

Next fall, hundreds of M&T alumni will converge on Penn’s campus to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology. I am proud to be part of that community, as a member of the Class of 2008. It is hard to believe that five years have passed since I shared in the 30th Anniversary, when I was just a year out of the program. The 35th is more than just another five year reunion—it truly is a celebration of multiple generations of M&T at Penn. In fact, I recently met a current M&T student whose mother is also an alumna of the program!

As a young Penn alum, these last five years have served as a transition between being fresh out of Penn’s safety net to being well on the road to establishing a career and a family. The 35th will be an opportunity to reconnect with many of my friends and classmates that are experiencing the same exciting developments. Lately, it has been quite thrilling to catch up with old classmates and hear about new jobs, upcoming or recent marriages, and children bringing joy and new challenges to their lives.

Arguably the most significant mark of the generational transition we are currently witnessing is the retirement of our own beloved Dr. William Hamilton (or Dr. H, as we all know him). Dr. H really is the father (or grandfather, depending on your age and perspective) of the program. He has touched each of us in our own way and every M&T owes him a great deal of gratitude for helping to found and develop the program into what it has become. He is a pillar of the Penn community, and an inspiration to us all.

So, while always excited for the opportunity to catch up with the generations of M&T alumni that I have had the privilege of joining since graduating, what I am most looking forward to at this gathering is one last victory lap with Dr. H before he passes the torch to the next generation. I look forward to seeing all of my fellow M&Ts there to share in the celebration.

Kim is an Associate in Commodity Institutional Sales at JPMorgan in New York. She graduated from M&T in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics from Penn Engineering as well as a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School with concentrations in Finance and Entrepreneurship & Innovation. She currently sits on the M&T Program 35th Anniversary Steering Committee, as a member of the Attendance subcommittee.