MIT Free Speech Alliance Elects New Directors Frank Laukien and Steven Carhart
MIT Free Speech Alliance Elects New Directors Frank Laukien and Steven Carhart
April 7, 2025, Cambridge, Mass. The MIT Free Speech Alliance has elected two new members to its Board of Directors, Frank Laukien and Steven Carhart.
Dr. Frank Lauken '84, received his B.S. in Physics from MIT in 1984 and his PhD in Chemical Physics from Harvard in 1988. He is CEO of life-science tools company Bruker Corporation and Founder/Chairman of fusion-power company Gauss Fusion. He is a Visiting Scholar in the Harvard Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology and the Origins of Life Initiative, and 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 initiated the GlycoMIT Initiative. In 2024, Frank assisted the formation of the MIT Council on Academic Freedom and he is also on the board of Heterodox Academy (HxA), whose values and priorities are closely aligned with MFSA. Frank lives in the Boston area.
Steven Carhart, '70, SM '72 and CFA, 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 was President of his class, as well as Alumni President of his fraternity and Chair of the alumni association of students for his graduate advisor. In 2024 he was elected by the 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.
Rotating off of MFSA's Board of Directors following the conclusion of their terms are Bill Frezza '76 and Eric Rasmusen, PhD '84. They will remain on MFSA's Executive Committee through their leadership roles, respectively, as Chairs of MFSA's Strategy Committee and Communications Committee.
"We're thrilled to announce these new additions to our Board, "said MFSA President Wayne Stargardt '74. "Steve Carhart has been with us from our earliest days as a member of our Executive Committee and as MFSA's ambassador to the nationwide alumni free speech movement, while Frank Laukien has emerged as an effective voice for academic freedom in both the Harvard and MIT communities."
Stargardt continued: "While I'm excited to welcome Steve and Frank to our Board, I'm also most pleased that Bill Frezza and Eric Rasmusen will remain active with MFSA following the end of their terms. Both were with MFSA from the beginning, and we wouldn't be taking these next steps if they hadn't helped us take our first steps."
Contact: Peter Bonilla, MFSA Executive Director, peter@mitfreespeech.org.
The MIT Free Speech Alliance (MFSA) has over 1,200 members. Founded by MIT alumni in 2021 following the cancellation of Dorian Abbot’s Carlson Lecture. MFSA is a member of the Alumni Free Speech Alliance, together with sister organizations at Cornell, Harvard, and the University of Virginia, among other institutions. MFSA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and is independent of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.