Former US SEC Chair Gary Gensler appointed professor at MIT Sloan

On Jan 27, 2025, the MIT Sloan School of Management has announced the return of former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler

Gary Gensler will return to his position as a Professor of the Practice in the Global Economics and Management Group and the Finance Group.

Gensler will focus on teaching and conducting research on artificial intelligence, finance, financial technology, and public policy, reinforcing MIT's leadership in these fields.

In addition to his teaching and research roles, Gensler will serve as co-director of the FinTechAI@CSAIL initiative, a collaboration between MIT Sloan and the university’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).

Alongside MIT Professor Andrew W. Lo, Gensler will help lead research efforts exploring the impact of AI on finance, addressing both opportunities and challenges in the evolving financial landscape.

Gensler’s return to MIT follows his tenure as SEC Chair under the Biden administration, where he oversaw the regulation of the $120 trillion U.S. capital markets.

Before joining the SEC, he was a Professor of the Practice at MIT Sloan from 2018 to 2021, co-directing the FinTech@CSAIL initiative and serving as a senior advisor to the MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative.

His extensive career includes serving as Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where he led the Obama administration’s post-2008 financial crisis reforms of the $400 trillion swaps market.

He has also held key positions in the U.S. Treasury Department under President Bill Clinton and played a significant role in drafting the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) as a senior advisor to Senator Paul Sarbanes.

Before his public service, Gensler spent 18 years at Goldman Sachs, rising to the position of partner. His expertise spans mergers and acquisitions, fixed income and currency trading, and global financial strategy.

Reflecting on his return to MIT, Gensler expressed excitement about rejoining the academic community.

“I am honored to return to MIT, whose faculty, staff, and students have long been at the cutting edge of research and technology. I’m thrilled to once again collaborate with MIT’s distinguished scholars to help shape the future of AI, finance, and technology.”

Gensler’s appointment indicating that MIT Sloan put emphasis on integrating financial expertise with emerging technologies, fostering innovation, and teaching students about an increasingly complex global economy.