S. Donald Sussman Fellowship Award Fireside Chat Series

20182019 Award Recipient

Dr. James Simons, SB '58
Founder and Chairman, Renaissance Technologies
Chairman, Simons Foundation
Founder and Chairman, Math for America


"Math, Money, and Making a Difference"

Part 1: Mathematics
Moderated by:
Tomasz Mrowka, SB '83
Professor of Mathematics, MIT

Wednesday, February 27, 2019



Part 2: Finance
Moderated by:
Andrew Lo
Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor, MIT

Wednesday, March 6, 2019



Part 3: Philanthropy
Moderated by:
Michael Sipser
Dean, School of Science, MIT

Wednesday, March 13, 2019



About the 20182019 Award Recipient
Dr. James Simons, SB '58
MIT alumnus James (“Jim”) Simons is a mathematician and founder of the highly quantitative investment firm Renaissance Technologies where he served as CEO for over 30 years before becoming board chair. Simons also serves as chairman of the Simons Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences, and is the founder and chairman of Math for America, a nonprofit organization with a mission to significantly improve math education in our nation’s public schools. His most influential research involved the discovery and application of certain geometric measurements, now called the ChernSimons Invariants, which have wide use, particularly in theoretical physics. Simons was selected to be the recipient of this fellowship for his remarkable contributions to the quantitative investment field, as well as his work in mathematics and his active support for fundamental scientific research.

Read more about the 20182019 Fellowship: https://mitsloan.mit.edu/press/james...




About the S. Donald Sussman Fellowship

This fellowship is named in honor of S. Donald Sussman, who has worked in alternative investments for more than 35 years and manages funds that focus on both quantitative and fundamental strategies. He is the founder of the Paloma Funds, and New China Capital Management LLC. Mr. Sussman was named to Institutional InvestorAlpha Hedge Fund Hall of Fame in 2013 and has received other lifetime achievement awards for hedge fund investing. He attended Columbia College and received a BS and an MBA from New York University.

The Sussman Fellowship is overseen by the MIT Sloan Finance Group. Sussman Fellows receive a $100,000 cash prize and share their insights on quantitative finance and the financial industry through three public lectures to be delivered at MIT Sloan during the year of the award.