Joseph E. Aoun, a leader in higher education policy and a renowned scholar in linguistics, is the seventh President of Northeastern University.
President Aoun has strategically aligned the University’s research enterprise with three global imperatives—health, security, and sustainability. Northeastern’s faculty focus on interdisciplinary research, entrepreneurship, and transforming academic research into commercial solutions for the world’s most pressing problems. During President Aoun’s tenure, the University has realized a 189 percent growth in external research funding, along with approximately 1,500 patent applications filed by faculty and students.
The Globe asked best-selling author Ben Mezrich to write a novella, a work of fiction, to be published exclusively in the Globe and on Globe.com. In “The Mechanic,” Mezrich takes us on a taut journey through his hometown of Boston, from the halls of Harvard to the glitz of a waterfront casino to the ominously silent galleries of a museum and a critical patch of local history we thought we knew, but apparently do not.
Watch the virtual event to hear Ben Mezrich talk about 'The Mechanic' in a conversation moderated by Cynthia Needham, Assistant Managing Editor of The Boston Globe.
The reigning cowboy of narrative non-fiction with a writing career spanning nineteen years, Mezrich has authored twenty books – major international and New York Times bestsellers, with well over six million copies sold. The genre he’s created – cinematic and unique true stories of young geniuses battling their way through the grey area between right and wrong, and succeeding at all costs – includes the wildly successful Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, which spent sixty-three weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. It was adapted into the hit motion picture 21. The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal spent eighteen weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and appeared on hit bestseller lists in over a dozen countries. It was adapted into the hit movie THE SOCIAL NETWORK, which was nominated for eight Oscars, winning three including Best Adapted Screenplay, and won Golden Globes for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Score. Mezrich and Aaron Sorkin share a prestigious Scripter Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as well. Mezrich is the only non-fiction author to have two adaptations open #1 at the box office. Mezrich’s latest book, Bitcoin Billionaires, was an international bestseller and is being made into a motion picture. Currently, Mezrich is also a writer and consulting producer for the TV show Billions.
