Jay Wilcoxson serves as a lawyer in MIT’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) and enjoys navigating crises to find solutions. After earning his J.D. at Boston University School of Law, he practiced commercial litigation at Goodwin Procter LLP. In 2007 he saw a Mass Lawyers Weekly notice that MIT was seeking a litigator of his seniority, applied, and became one of the first new hires in the newly‑created OGC. Prior to that, MIT’s legal work was scattered across multiple units; his arrival helped centralize the function.
At MIT his focus shifted from courtroom battles to preventing disputes. He proactively spots friction points, works with campus units to mitigate risk, and largely concentrates on student‑life matters, collaborating with the Division of Student Life, the Office of the Chancellor, Graduate Education, and the Institute’s Discrimination and Harassment Response Office. When a matter’s proper point of contact is unclear, Wilcoxson and his colleagues triage it to the most suitable attorney, sparing the community from having to locate the right lawyer.
Wilcoxson credits the collaborative culture of the OGC for its success; the MIT community views the team as trusted partners. Legal reasoning differs from that of engineers, scientists, or humanities scholars, offering a distinct lens on complex problems. He thrives on the high tolerance for ambiguity the role demands, saying, “I really like the uncertainty.”
On a personal level, the relationships he has built are his greatest source of satisfaction. MIT’s community is diverse, “quirky” and “brilliant,” and he treats everyone as MIT’s client, helping them focus on research and teaching. Beyond his core duties he attends faculty meetings, serves on student committees, participates in search committees, and has been a name‑reader at Commencement for nearly a decade, reading about 200 names per ceremony. Recently he joined the Presidential Committee on Distinguished Fellowships, mentoring students applying for international scholarships such as Rhodes and Marshall.
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