Volunteer Spotlight: Ann Miura-Ko ’98 and Albert J. Ko ’98

What was your first volunteer role at Yale? What led you to it?

Ann: My first volunteer role was as part of the Alumni Schools Committee interviewer team. I wanted to connect with students who were interested in applying to Yale and thought that this was a great way of getting the word out and learning about students who were excited about Yale.

Al: My first opportunity to volunteer for Yale happened when I was a junior in 1997. In an “only at Yale” type of moment, a random essay contest that I discovered in Cross Campus Library (I think it’s called Bass Library now) led to a spring break trip to Hong Kong months before the handover from the United Kingdom to China. We were hosted by a bunch of students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Later that year, shortly after the handover, the same group of Yalies who got to experience that incredible period in history had the opportunity to host the students from Hong Kong in New Haven. They slept in our dorms, ate in the dining halls, enjoyed an evening at Naples Pizza, and got a real taste of American college life.

You have both served on the Class of 1998’s Reunion Gift Committees—including the current 25th—and Al, you have served as co-chair in the past. What keeps you involved with your class’s gift effort?

Al: Both of our Yale educations were significantly enabled by financial aid and many of the activities we participated in—a robotics competition in France, long distance travel with the Yale Debate Association, internships and externships with industry leaders—were all funded through the generosity of alumni who came before us who wanted to enable an even better experience for future Yalies. We love being part of such a tradition.

Do you have any advice for first-time reunion gift volunteers?

Al: Get to know Yale in 2023. It is a larger, more diverse, more dynamic institution than the amazing school we remember.

Ann, how has your service as a Yale volunteer prepared you for your role as a Yale trustee?

Ann: Having interviewed students, helped with fundraising, and served on the Yale Investments Committee advising the endowment, I was able to see the depth and breadth of engagement from countless volunteers in the alumni network. I understand that this university is served by not only the groundbreaking research done by our esteemed faculty and students and the high caliber of teaching we provide to our insatiably curious students, but also by the hard work and deep love our alumni have for Yale. I love hearing from alumni whether they agree or disagree with things happening on campus. I know they engage because they care.

Both of you have been supportive of engineering at Yale. What made you choose this area?

Ann: Let’s start by saying just how much we both love Yale as a liberal arts university. We chose Yale because of its undeniable strength in the humanities. But we both work in technology and know that a fundamental part of a well-rounded education now includes the sciences and engineering, and we believe that this university priority is critical. I majored in electrical engineering at Yale, and while the major was incredibly small, it was also mighty. I went into a PhD program at Stanford incredibly well prepared for the challenges of a graduate school education in engineering because of the foundation I built at Yale. We should afford that opportunity to more students. Given the growth in computer science as an interest area, the criticality and impact of technology like AI, along with Yale’s unique ability to bring perspective from the medical sciences, art, environment and law into this mix, we are excited to see Yale’s role in that future.

Yale’s For Humanity campaign has a focus on science and innovation. What do you say to fellow alumni who view this as a shift from Yale’s strengths in the arts and humanities?

Al: As Yale has grown tremendously in the twenty-five years since our graduation (two new colleges, an expansion of professional schools, etc.), the arts and humanities are more vibrant than ever. That the sciences are just as strong only strengthens Yale’s position as a place where future leaders of all fields can begin their adult journeys.

Where did you feel most at home as a Yale undergraduate?

Ann: I loved walking into the Timothy Dwight courtyard and seeing a bunch of faces I knew. I also have to give a shout out to Proof of the Pudding, who truly were my sisters throughout my time at Yale.

Al: I’ve got to say any dining hall—not just because I love food. Literally every meal was an opportunity to interact with someone who had vastly different interests trying to become world-class at their field of study.

What is your favorite Yale memory?

Ann: Dean Bromley (former engineering dean) asked me to take a visitor on a tour of Yale Engineering. He hadn’t given me a lot of context for this, and it was a last minute ask, so I took this gentleman around the various labs of professors I knew. He ended up being from my hometown of Palo Alto, California. He asked me if I might be visiting home over spring break, and it happened that I was headed home. He then asked if I’d be interested in shadowing him to learn more about business. I asked him what kind of business he was a part of, and he very modestly said, “I am the CEO of Hewlett Packard.” Well, I spent spring break of my junior year shadowing Lew Platt, CEO of Hewlett Packard. I could barely explain what had happened to my friends, because it felt so out of the blue.

Al: My favorite memory is Freshperson Conference (not sure if it’s called that anymore). Within a few days, I went from being a nervous public school kid from LA to having a community of friends at half a dozen colleges across the Yale campus. All these years later, some of my favorite people in the world are friends I made that first week.