What else drops in autumn besides the leaves? Matt Hill ’06, an engineering manager on the Product Design team at Apple has the answer— new iPhones!

While most of us vacationed this summer, Matt and his team were in high gear readying the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max for mass production. “Building something is always a labor of love, and never comes easily, but holding your creation in your hands and seeing it out in the world is always a rewarding experience.” 

A member of the Class of 2006, Matt remembers his time in the bubble fondly. “The experiences and network that I built at Olin follow me every day. … I’m lucky enough to work with several other alums on my team here at Apple, as well as to count them among my lifelong friends. Olin is an incredibly special place and taught me so much—both academically and otherwise.” 

Matt was able to choose to attend Olin, in part, because the 100 percent merit scholarship in place at the time made an Olin education accessible even to a kid from Chicago with no college fund. After Olin, he went on to Stanford with the support of a Graduate Fellowship. “The incredible combination of the support and the education that I’ve received gave me the freedom to follow my heart and to seize opportunities… I remain humbled by the generosity I’ve received and view it as a privilege, not an obligation, to pay that forward whenever I can.” 

And paying it forward is exactly what he has been doing since his senior year at Olin. Beginning with his senior class gift, Matt has donated to Olin consistently since graduation. Over the years he has channeled his giving into student-focused initiatives like the Alumni Merit Scholarship Fund and the Richard K. Miller Scholarship Fund. Three years ago, he decided to do something more for Olin students and as something of a challenge to his fellow alumni.

Matt approached Olin with a proposal to endow a scholarship that would cover the remaining tuition expenses for a student meeting a few key criteria. Every year, through his own donation and the benefit of Apple’s corporate matching program, Matt now makes a sizable gift to his own fund—the Matthew D. Hill Endowed Scholarship Fund.

“By accelerating my giving and setting up a dedicated scholarship fund, I’m hoping to do two things: first, to make a difference in the lives of individual students and to share with them the same freedom that I enjoyed, and second, to show every student—past, present, and future— that they too can make a difference now and that there’s no reason to wait.” 

Matt says that in addition to a love of building things, Olin instilled in him the value and power of a story. “I’m hopeful that telling my story here does the same and connects with and inspires others to give back too.”