Ellen Hoffman

Our next Bringing out the Best honoree is Ellen Hoffman, Director of Communications at the MIT Media Lab. For the last 20 years, Ellen has enthusiastically dedicated herself to the unique ethos and people of the Media Lab. She has told the Lab’s story to the world, putting its research and achievements into global context with creative communications vehicles that excite, engage, and inform. What makes the Media Lab such an influential research facility? The world knows why because Ellen has made it elegantly clear.

As one of her colleagues said, “She is always the person who took the time to understand all of our work, to cut to the core of what was most important about it, and to see clearly how commonalities could be encouraged and connected throughout the Lab.”

In such an interdisciplinary environment, it can be tough to achieve a shared sense of purpose that links all faculty, students, researchers and staff within an organization. Ellen has created that connective tissue. If you work in the Media Lab, you understand the significance of your legacy and the broader context of your goals—in large part because of Ellen. Congratulations!