 MIT is chartered as a non @-@ profit organization and is owned and governed by a privately appointed board of trustees known as the MIT Corporation . The current board consists of 43 members elected to five @-@ year terms , 25 life members who vote until their 75th birthday , 3 elected officers ( President , Treasurer , and Secretary ) , and 4 ex officio members ( the president of the alumni association , the Governor of Massachusetts , the Massachusetts Secretary of Education , and the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ) . The board is chaired by Robert Millard , a co @-@ founder of L @-@ 3 Communications Holdings . The Corporation approves the budget , new programs , degrees and faculty appointments , and elects the President to serve as the chief executive officer of the university and preside over the Institute 's faculty . MIT 's endowment and other financial assets are managed through a subsidiary called MIT Investment Management Company ( MITIMCo ) . Valued at $ 9 @.@ 7 billion in 2011 , MIT 's endowment is the sixth @-@ largest among American colleges and universities . 
