Alumni

April 19, 2018

David Siegel ’04 is a techie, philosopher, and creative thinker. Blending his love of technology with a sensitivity to human flourishing, he is driven to understand how technology affects people. “I’m naturally skeptical of the techno-utopian tenet that technology will inevitably create the world we want,” he shares, “so I’m concerned with building technologies consistent with our core values.”

Currently working as a design leader at Microsoft in San Francisco, he also recently founded a company around his open source project, quicktype.io, which he summarizes in layman’s terms as “autocorrect for data.” After eight months since David began working on quicktype as a side project, it’s approaching 30,000 monthly users and is snowballing in popularity with developers. He expects to reach 100,000 users per month and to build a business on top of the open source foundation this year.

During his years at MPA, David gravitated mostly toward Spanish, film, writing, and critical thinking. He especially loved arguing contentious topics with others, which was encouraged at school. He was also personally motivated to seek knowledge about emerging technologies, and MPA’s laptop program was vital.

After graduation, David attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned dual degrees in philosophy and computer science engineering. Despite graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, he admits he has never used his resume and has reported directly to the CEO at every position he’s held (until joining Microsoft via acquisition in 2016).

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March 19, 2018

Last week, the Middle School students were in the midst of their annual i-Term week, a unique opportunity to embody MPA’s mission of thinking independently and learning joyfully by participating in a one-week enrichment experience. i-Term courses are designed to provide inquiry-based, experiential learning beyond the classroom. The project-based, focused nature of i-Term offerings enables students to learn new skills, do things that are not possible within a normal school setting, and be exposed to things they would not be otherwise. Students venture into the community, work with experts in a particular field, and create new friendships along the way during this signature experience.

One specific class, “Social Change: Finding Your Voice,” taught by founding faculty member Ms. Anne Devout Atchison, featured several guest speakers from the community. This course challenged students to learn, lead, and effect positive change both globally and in their local community. Students learned how to effectively build awareness and discovered various forms of engagement, such as grassroots, social media, politics, and partnerships in action. It came as no surprise that many of the guest speakers were MPA alumni!

Thank you to Adam Fetcher ’02, vice president of environmental impact and policy, Askov Finlayson; Jason Utgaard ’03, founder, The Spotted Door; Kelsey Sudaard ’03, environmental engineer, MN Pollution Control Agency; Simone LaBonte ’06, director of person centered practices, New Directions; Noah Gerding ’96, director of development, People Serving People; Rob Hope ’96, initiative officer, Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative at the San Francisco Foundation; and Ryan Wood ’96, judge, U.S. Immigration.