David Capodilupo '79 The College of Wooster '83 Executive Director of International Programs and Master of Science in Management Studies, MIT Sloan School of Management Restorer of Tibetan palaces and the prototype Boeing 727 I started at MIT in 2002 and became the Executive Director of the MBA program at MIT Sloan. MIT was interested in selecting business people to work with academics in managing the business school, an interesting concept. One dean noticed that I had started a company focusing on restoring Tibetan Palaces (Potala and Lhasa) along with my success as a Senior Vice President at Putnam Investments. I’d like to think it differentiated my candidacy. I took a trading position at Putnam Investments in 1984 after I graduated from college. I grew with the company and ended up as Senior Vice President in the 401(k) division managing sales, investments and marketing, for clients such as MCI, Revlon, Abbott Laboratories and Alaska Airlines. I had been at Putnam Investments for 17 years, was about to turn 40, and felt I hadn't experienced enough of the world outside of the financial industry. So, I joined some friends, who worked for the Discovery Channel, planning a documentary on Tibet, and traveled with them. We met the manager of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, who wanted help with restoration for tourism. (The Potala Palace was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until 1959.) With two partners, I started my first company, Aspen Concepts, LLC., working with the Chinese Government and engineers for palace restoration. We held our meetings in China, flying into China and communicating through translators: Tibetan to Chinese to English and back and forth. Alas, we ran the company for three years succumbing to unstable financial markets and uncertain regulations resulting post 9/11. However, the experience of starting a company was worth it – I suggest everyone should try it. About the plane, I venture twice a year to work with the engineers restoring the prototype Boeing 727 at Boeing Field in Seattle. I always loved planes ever since I was little. Our parents used to fly us to the islands every year. I found a 1975 photo of our family standing in front of a plane and used the registration number to look for that plane. It took four years to find it -- the engineers were using it for the restoration of the first 727. I met the engineers and offered my services and passion. The work involves cockpit, flaps, spoilers, landing gear and transponder replacement. The FAA makes sure we keep logs since we are all going to fly the plane to Boeing's Museum of Flight in Seattle. Should be a big news event. A good feeling to restore something for future generations to enjoy. I served 3 years as Executive Director of Sloan's MBA program until Fidelity Investments asked me to join them as a Senior Vice President in the Brokerage Division. I kept in touch with MIT Sloan, was appointed on their Executive Board, and returned in 2009 as Senior Director in the International Programs Office and the Master of Science in Management Studies MBA. I love establishing new deals, working with selected schools around the globe, helping with MBA course work, researching visiting faculty, developing executive education programs and lecture series. I am currently working with business schools in Russia, Istanbul, India and Portugal and will be developing a free-standing MIT Sloan office in Santiago, Chile. GFA? I had left a large boarding school, in upper Connecticut, transferring in 1977. The size of the classes, the faculty, the grounds and tossing a lacrosse ball at Burying Hill Beach made me realize I had found a unique place. To this day, my feelings remain.