MFE Class of 2020 told to build the future, embrace failure

MFE students toss caps — “We are a very close-knit group, an MFE family, and this is what we are going to remember today,” said Linda Kreitzman, executive director of the MFE program.”This program is about resilience.” Photo: Noah Berger

A total of 93 students in the 2020 Master of Financial Engineering class graduated March 13, as commencement speaker Rachel Schutt, a BlackRock managing director, urged them to plant seeds to build the future—and embrace failure.

“The reason why I want you to think about your relationship and beliefs about failure is that it goes hand in hand with the risks you are willing to take, what success means to you, and whether you will try things even if there’s a chance that you might not succeed,” said Schutt, who is head of BlackRock’s AI labs.

Dean Ann Harrison thanked spouses, significant others, parents and friends of the graduating students who watched via livestream.

“We are facing the most challenging health and global crisis that I have personally encountered in my own lifetime,” Harrison told the graduates. “Yet I feel comforted and optimistic in the fact that you brilliant and caring Haas grads are going out in the world to fix our problems and I know you can do it.”