Who Made Boston Magazine’s “Most Influential Bostonians” List?
Eight members of the Boston University community are among 150 people shaping the city
Who Made Boston Magazine’s “Most Influential Bostonians” List?
Eight members of the Boston University community are among 150 people shaping the city
Each year, Boston magazine publishes a “Most Influential Bostonians” list, featuring individuals who are shaping how the city “lives, works, thinks, and feels.” And, no surprise, several members of the Boston University community are among this year’s power players. Listed below are BU’s VIPs, where they ranked, and some of what the publication wrote about them:
#10: Reshma Kewalramani (CAS’98, CAMED’98), CEO and president, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
“Few people in Boston hold more cards than Kewalramani,” the magazine says. “As president and CEO of Vertex, she oversees more than $100 billion in value—and the company keeps growing…. Outside the lab, she has become a fixture in Boston’s civic life, with board memberships at the Biomedical Science Careers Program, Mass General Brigham, and BU’s med school.”
#28: Bruce Percelay (Questrom’77), founder and chair, Mount Vernon Company
The magazine points to Percelay’s prowess in real estate, politics, philanthropy, and media (he’s the publisher of N Magazine and the Nantucket Current), and notes that he recently launched a nonprofit, Nourish Nantucket, to address the island’s food insecurity problem.
#54: Melissa Gilliam, president, Boston University
The magazine highlights BU’s growing endowment, over $470 million in undergraduate financial aid, and “ambitious” renovation projects. “In one of the hardest moments in higher-ed history, Gilliam is navigating with uncommon steadiness,” according to the magazine.
#76: Brooks Tingle (Questrom’91), president and CEO, John Hancock
Through the life insurance company’s wellness program, “Tingle has made behavioral health his mission: nudging customers toward more exercise, healthier eating, and preventative care,” and is spreading the same message through “political lobbying and public speaking,” according to the magazine.
#82: Margaret Low, CEO, WBUR
“Washington may have cut off public broadcasting funds, but Low has proven that WBUR is doing just fine,” the magazine says, citing the high number of new donors to the station (whose license is owned by BU) in fiscal 2025 and its rising endowment.
#92: Alastair Bell, president and CEO, Boston Medical Center Health System
The system is an integrated academic health network that includes Boston Medical Center, BU’s primary teaching hospital. Bell’s leadership “has never been more consequential for the health of this city and region,” the magazine says.
#121: Lindsey Butler (SPH’15,’21), executive director, Boston Green Ribbon Commission
Since becoming executive director in 2025, Butler has focused on “pushing for decarbonization of Boston’s buildings, including BU’s Warren Towers.”
#131: Tye Brady (ENG’90), chief technologist, Amazon Robotics
“Brady oversees the world’s largest fleet of industrial robots—Amazon just deployed its one millionth—and the BU and MIT grad launched Vulcan in 2025, the company’s first robot with a sense of touch,” according to the magazine.