DiVincenzo named vice president and general counsel

Mark DiVincenzo, who has served since 2007 as MIT’s deputy general counsel, has been appointed as the Institute’s next vice president and general counsel, effective immediately.

An attorney at MIT since 2001, DiVincenzo succeeds R. Gregory Morgan, who has been named as the Institute’s senior vice president and secretary of the Corporation. President L. Rafael Reif announced both appointments today in a letter to the MIT community.

“In his 14 years at MIT, Mark has earned respect from faculty and staff across our community who have come to rely on his advice, strategic problem-solving, and superb professionalism,” Reif says. “That we were able to fill such a senior position from within speaks both to Mark’s character and accomplishments, and to the exceptional quality of our legal team.”

In his new capacity, DiVincenzo will report to Reif, serving as a senior advisor to the president and on his senior leadership team, and as the Institute’s chief legal officer, responsible for shaping MIT's approach to legal and regulatory affairs.

“I am honored that President Reif has asked me to serve the Institute in this role,” DiVincenzo says. “I am fortunate to be following the exceptional leadership of Greg Morgan, and to have in place a very talented team in the Office of the General Counsel. The OGC engages broadly with our community, and our attorneys have developed solid and trusting relationships across MIT. We aim to help members of our community engage in intelligent, creative problem-solving. I look forward to continuing our work to provide independent and effective advice to advance MIT’s mission.”

Established in 2007, MIT’s Office of the General Counsel (OGC) provides legal advice and counseling to MIT, and represents the Institute in its legal matters. Its 11 attorneys and one paralegal offer expertise in the array of legal issues facing an academic institution, including business affairs; faculty and staff employment issues; giving and investment; Institute affairs; litigation and dispute management; real estate and construction; research and intellectual property; risk management and compliance; and student life.

The OGC aims to inform its MIT clients about the laws, regulations, and policies that apply to MIT’s operations; to prevent legal problems and to solve those that occur; to facilitate MIT’s transactions; and to provide advice and representation. Rather than seeking to decide matters on behalf of MIT, the OGC aims to educate and advise its clients around the Institute so as to contribute to wise decisions by others.

“As Greg and I have said before, in representing the best interests of MIT, our attorneys strive to be partners who help find simplicity in complex problems and who help convene and inform stakeholders and decision-makers,” DiVincenzo says. “We regularly respond to questions from every part of the Institute — questions that frequently have no clearly right answer or process for getting to an answer. Our lawyers try to articulate options in a format that brings clarity, and we hope that keeping calm amid uncertainty is one of the services that we provide.”

DiVincenzo joined MIT in 2001 as litigation and risk management counsel. As deputy general counsel for the last eight years, he has played a key role in the management of legal services at the Institute, and within the OGC. Specifically, he has held primary responsibility for management of the Institute’s legal process and litigation; served as the Institute’s senior student life and employment counsel, providing training, counseling, and legal advice to departments, labs, and centers; and advised the Institute on issues including policy, risk, and compliance issues. Over the past year, he has served as a key advisor to Chancellor Cynthia Barnhart as she has led efforts to reduce unwanted sexual behavior at MIT.

Prior to joining MIT, DiVincenzo practiced law with the firm Burns and Levinson as a business litigator and trial attorney, and then with the Boston office of Jackson Lewis, a national labor and employment law firm.

DiVincenzo graduated from Boston College in 1985 with a BA in political science, and received his law degree from Cornell Law School in 1988. He is an active member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and the College and University Law Section of the Boston Bar Association.