Babson President Stephen Spinelli Jr. Named Among Most Influential Bostonians by Boston Magazine

Babson College President Stephen Spinelli Jr. MBA’92, PhD has been named among the 150 Most Influential Bostonians in 2025 by Boston Magazine. 

Wyc Grousbeck and the Boston Celtics topped Boston Magazine’s ranking of the most influential leaders in Boston, “people who really shape how we think, live, work, and dream,” the magazine wrote. 

Spinelli, who was ranked 105th, was one of only five college and university leaders to be cited on the list. In its writeup of the Babson president, Boston Magazine noted Spinelli’s leadership, especially with technology entrepreneurship: 

“Boston’s incubator for entrepreneurial talent, Babson has flourished under Spinelli’s leadership—and the school’s 14th president continues pushing the college forward, for instance launching a new (C. Dean Metropoulos) Institute for Technology and Entrepreneurship that will include a focus on AI,” Boston Magazine wrote. “No wonder U.S. News & World Report says it’s the top undergraduate school for entrepreneurship, and the Wall Street Journal ranked it number two among all U.S. colleges. Fittingly for someone helping students flex their entrepreneurial muscles, Spinelli also serves on the board of Planet Fitness.” 

Reshma Kewalramani H’23, the president and CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals who delivered the graduate Commencement address two years ago, was ranked No. 13. 

The high-profile recognition continues Babson’s major successes in the past year under Spinelli’s leadership. Babson was named the No. 2 Best College in the United States last fall by The Wall Street Journal. Earlier this month, Babson was ranked the No. 1 MBA program in entrepreneurship for the 32nd consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report, which also named Babson the No. 1 undergraduate school for entrepreneurship last fall for the 28th consecutive time.