MSL Reunion Weekend 2019 is a wrap! Thank you to all who attended MSL reunion events in person and also to those who connected with us virtually. We had a great turnout of alumni, with representation from each class of graduates, and it definitely seemed like a good time was had by all.

Highlights from the weekend included Friday’s luncheon with MSL alumni, current students, and faculty, and our speed-networking event, which was followed by the all-school alumni reception and an informal gathering of MSL alumni at the Windsor Bar in Streeterville. On Saturday, alumni and current students came together to hear about the State of the MSL from staff, including Leslie Oster, Shilpa Gokhale and Evan Goldberg.

During the State of the MSL session, staff shared key highlights of the past, present, and future of the MSL Program:

• The MSL Program started in 2014 with 30 people and has grown each year; the 2019 – 2020 class has 175 people across both the residential and online programs.
• The Alumni Board is developing a Mentorship Initiative connecting students to MSL graduates with the goal of providing professional development support for students and growing the MSL network globally.
• The MSL Online Program launched in the fall of 2018 and currently has 70 students enrolled.
• The MSL curriculum has grown significantly over the years – we have added more than 30 regular term classes and more than 20 power week classes since the program began.
• Among the classes that have been added, we have focused on privacy, data, and emerging technologies, with classes in Health Informatics, Data Science, Assessing AI & Computational Technologies, Applied AI in HealthTech, Innovation Lab, and many others.
• With so many curricular options, we have increased the amount of advising we provide to students. In addition to more one-on-one counseling (from Shilpa), we now organize classes into curriculum clusters to help guide students based on their particular areas of interest. Curriculum clusters include:
  • • Intellectual Property and Patents
    • Regulation and Compliance
    • General Business and Consulting
    • Data, Privacy and Technology
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Health, Medicine and Life Sciences
    • Law, Legal Operations and LegalTech
• The MSL Program has devoted considerable resources toward developing our career services offerings and resources since the program’s inception. We now offer significant career advising, a variety of career development workshops, and expanded networking opportunities. Evan and Shilpa are partnering with all students to focus on their professional development from the time they enter the MSL program.

All in all, the MSL program continues to thrive and remains dedicated to helping STEM professionals advance their careers. Thanks to our phenomenal alumni and students, the MSL program has made a considerable mark in its first five years, and we expect it will continue to do so moving forward! We hope that those of you who attended Reunion Weekend had a great experience. And to those who weren’t able to make it, we missed you and hope very much to see you at the next Reunion!

To see photos from the weekend please visit the MSL Program Flickr Page.