Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Wayne Stargardt '74, President and Chairman of the Board. BS ’74 Course 15. BS ’74 and MS ’75, Course 2.
president@mitfreespeech.org
Wayne joined MFSA in October 2021, and has been the Chairman of the Membership Committee and serves on the Strategy Committee. Wayne is retired from a 30+ year career as a technology executive in the Internet of Things industry. He was elected to the MIT Alumni Association Selection Committee in 2023. Wayne also has an MBA from a well-known eastern business school on the Charles which is not named Sloan. Wayne lives outside of Dallas, Texas.
Charles Davis '87, Past President and Secretary. BS '87, Course 1, and a Master’s degree in Finance from the University of Alabama.
secretary@mitfreespeech.org
Chuck has 25 years’ experience in commercial and investment banking focused on building scale, enhancing controls, and delivering new capabilities. He was a Combat Engineer for 5 years and served in Germany and during Operation Desert Storm where he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. Chuck previously served as Chair of MFSA's Finance Committee. He lives in Pennsylvania.
Cesarina Templeton-Wheeler MS '02, Treasurer. Ms. Templeton holds a B.A. from Boston University (’97) and a M.S.R.E.D from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (’02), Course 1.
treasurer@mitfreespeech.org
Ms. Templeton’s Masters’ thesis, 100 Years of Commercial Real Estate Prices in Manhattan, was published by the Journal of Real Estate Economics. Ms. Templeton enjoyed a long career in commercial real estate before the sale and disposition of Overland Capital Group where she held a variety of positions, including the Managing Director of the asset management group and Senior Vice President in acquisitions and equity placememt. Prior to her tenure at Overland Capital Group, Cessy held positions with Equity Residential Properties, Boston Capital Group and CBRE. She joined the MIT Free Speech Alliance in the fall of 2021 and looks forward to helping effectuate meaningful change at MIT in the areas of free expression and viewpoint diversity.
Kenneth Kidd '78, Director. S.B. ’78, Course 15, J.D. ’81 University of North Carolina.
Ken practiced law in Miami, Florida and Richmond, Virginia doing corporate, securities, and tax work primarily for tax exempt healthcare organizations. After a radical career change, Ken taught high school math and retired in 2018 to The Villages in Florida.
Frank Laukien '84, Director. BS Physics '84, PhD '88 Harvard Chemical Physics.
Frank Laukien is an innovation-focused entrepreneur, the President and CEO of life-science tools company Bruker Corporation, as well as Founder/Chairman of fusion-power company Gauss Fusion.
Frank is a Visiting Scholar in the Harvard Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology and the Origins of Life Initiative, which is now open to MIT origins and astrobiology faculty. Frank also is a member of the Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard.
Frank has previously served on the Dean’s Advisory Committee of the MIT School of Science, presently serves on the Visiting Committee for Chemistry, and has initiated the GlycoMIT Initiative. In 2024, Frank assisted the formation of the MIT Council on Academic Freedom. In 2024, Frank joined the board of the Heterodox Academy (HxA), whose values and priorities are closely aligned with MFSA. Frank lives in the Boston area.
Steven C. Carhart '70, Director. SM '72, CFA.
Steve has worked in energy policy and investment management, including currently managing a mutual fund. At MIT, he served as Editor in Chief at the Tech and President of his class, as well as alumni President of his fraternity and Chair of the alumni association of students of his graduate advisor. In 2024 he was elected by MIT alumni body to serve on the Alumni Association Selection Committee. Steve is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Alumni Free Speech Alliance. He resides in Manchester by the Sea, MA.