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Every year, VPF publishes the Report of Sponsored Research Activity, aka “The Brown Book,” an MIT publication of record that tracks the Institute’s annual research volume. The Brown Book is published in September (both hard copy and on the VPF website) to coincide with the publication of the Treasurer’s Report. These days the person behind this enormous effort is VPF accounting officer Clarel AuGuste, who brings eight years of MIT accounting experience to the task.

Clarel began his career at MIT as a staff accountant and was responsible for bank statement reconciliations and supporting accounting functions for the general ledger and MIT’s master data. Over the next six years, Clarel took on increasing levels of responsibility. He became VPF’s go-to expert for many aspects of financial accounting, based on his approach to diagnosing a problem by understanding its root cause. His broad and deep knowledge of VPF accounting operations led to his most recent promotion to Accounting Officer in 2015.

Clarel’s reputation for problem-solving led to an exciting assignment, as he recently traveled to Singapore with VPF colleague Jay DellaPorta to help modernize and then align the accounting structures for the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) program. Before leaving Cambridge, Clarel created a report in BrioQuery for his counterparts at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) to help automate a segment of their accounting operations. Clarel left behind robust reporting tools and improved systems for sharing information between MIT and SUTD, and he made strong connections with his colleagues there that make it easier for both organizations to work together on complex financial reports.

Growing up in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston, Clarel attended City on a Hill, a small charter high school, where his graduating class totaled 15. “At City on a Hill, I learned to use math to solve problems—not just to solve math problems, but to solve operational problems,” says Clarel. “As an undergraduate at Bentley University, I had a part-time job on the computer help desk, and through my job and my studies, I learned to approach every problem with an operational question first. Bottom line, I like to analyze and solve problems.”

Outside of MIT, Clarel can be found pursuing his latest athletic passion at the CrossFit Together gym, where he is training to become a certified CrossFit instructor and preparing for his next competition. “I’ve always been involved in sports—basketball, football, track and field, and of course, soccer. My dad played on the Haitian national football team (better known as “soccer” in the U.S.)—and even played against Brazilian legend Pelé and alongside Manno Sanon, one of Haiti’s national football stars—so it was inevitable that my brothers and I would play a lot of sports.”

Clarel is currently pursuing an MBA at Bentley, studying business analytics. He finds his work at VPF informs his studies and vice versa. He is thrilled to be enrolled in Bentley’s hybrid MBA program, taking some classes online and some on the Bentley campus, and appreciates the support from MIT’s Employee Tuition Assistance Plan to help defray the cost.

And when he’s not at work, in the gym, or in class, Clarel—a self-taught chef and former food blogger—can be found in the kitchen cooking up his own style of fusion cuisine, mixing flavors and ideas from across the globe. “I’m a griller,” he says, “I love to grill. Someday I hope to write a cookbook or have a television cooking show.”

— Laurie Everett