James, PhD ’69, and Margaret Utterback

Jim Utterback is an emeritus professor of engineering systems in the School of Engineering and the David J. McGrath Jr. Professor of Management and Innovation emeritus at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He and his wife, Peggy, a retired special education teacher, established a charitable remainder trust that will provide income during their lifetimes and support fellowships for doctoral students at Sloan. They say MIT provided a backdrop of creative intellectual engagement for them and their two children: Camille, a digital artist and 2009 MacArthur fellow, and Matthew, a social entrepreneur. “The best experience of my life was teaching students at MIT,” says Jim. 

What inspired their gift: “MIT opened more experiences for me than I ever imagined,” says Jim. “I was supported by scholarships and fellowships and wanted to make sure another MIT student will always be afforded the opportunity I was given.” 

On what MIT has meant to their family: “MIT is a place where you’re encouraged to get answers,” Peggy says. “Jim brought a lot of that home. Our son said he learned that problems are there so you can figure out how to solve them. We invited students to our home for Thanksgiving and would have people from all over the world around our table. They were always upbeat and inspired. That was an important part of our children’s upbringing.”

On MIT’s motivated students: “I think if you lock them in a laboratory with a library next to it and shove pizza under the door for a semester, they would figure out some wonderful project to do,” says Jim. “I’ve learned you never tell an MIT student their plans are too ambitious.”

Help MIT build a better world. For more information, contact Amy Goldman: (617) 253-4082; goldmana@mit.edu. Or visit giving.mit.edu/planned-giving.