Spreadsheet One

Illustration by Sarah Wilkins

The Dean of Cool
HE NEVER SAT in the skydeck, learned how to work the online bidding system, or cringed at a Van Horne cold call. Although he's a top scholar and an avid windsurfer, this "really cool guy" is still one of the most unusual members of the MBA Class of 1999. In a surprise ceremony at June's commencement, outgoing dean Mike Spence was welcomed into the graduating class by copresidents Ignacio Giraldo and Andres Botero.

"This year we will say goodbye to a great leader," said Giraldo. "He is a man of vision, integrity, and — as many have said to us in the past — just a really cool guy. Those of us who have worked with Mike know that we can count on him as a teacher, a role model, a mentor, and a friend. He leaves behind an impressive array of accomplishments that will positively impact the GSB for years to come. In recognition of that legacy, the MBA Class of 1999, through a formal student initiative, has voted to invite Dean Spence to become an honorary member of the Class of 1999."

Better Living Through Chemistry
IF YOU'VE EVER WONDERED how so many high achievers have seemingly boundless energy, you are not alone. Over the course of their careers, sometime investment specialist and consultant James Richards, MBA '66, and his physician wife, Susan Lark, have observed that many peak performers, despite their exhausting schedules and demanding lifestyles, rarely get tired or sick or fall prey to the ills that beset the rest of us. Richards and Lark believe they have identified six secrets of peak performance and, no, they say, contrary to the popular notion, they're not all in your head.

In their new book, The Chemistry of Success (San Francisco: Bay Books), Richards and Lark report that a balance of physical conditions — acidity/ alkalinity, digestive enzymes, detoxification, oxygen levels, stress management, and hormones — can influence achievement. They also believe that "a chemistry of success can be restored in individuals who have lost it and created in those who never possessed it," and proceed to show how.

Richards and Lark may prove their own best examples. They are undertaking an exhausting author tour and working on a TV documentary as well as seminars and special editions of the book tailored to groups and organizations.

Parting Gift
THE MBA CLASS OF 1999 has more than an illustrious new member to be proud of (see "The Dean of Cool"). The new graduates' gift to the School set records for participation and dollar amount. The class gift of $167,255 will renovate a section of the terrace off Jackson Library that previously was closed to general use. It will include new furniture, plants, and some outdoor lockers for students. Future users can thank 298 donors — 84 percent of the class — who pledged an average of $561.

Everything You Wanted to Know.com
THE ALUMNI/AE DIRECTORY that went online in late summer owes its existence to several recent MBA classes. The database system, licensed from Darden Business School, was partially funded by a gift from the MBA Class of 1997 and then beta-tested by members of the classes of 1993, 1997, and 1998. Like any beta-testers, they made a number of suggestions, many of which, says project manager Linda Wells, MBA '93, have been or probably will be implemented.

On the probable side are additional fields for undergraduate institution, year, and field of study, outside interests, and ethnic affiliation. The Alumni Office, which also plans to add online registration for events, is currently negotiating with Darden for the improvements.

Any MBA, Sloan, or SEP graduate who received this magazine in the mail should have received a description of the database and his or her username and password in a separate mailing. Anyone who did not receive (or lost) the letter can turn to the advertisement on page 11 of the printed version of this magazine for general information. To learn your username and password or to change your assigned username, send an email to alumni_ admin@gsb.stanford.edu.

Claim-Jumping in the New West

Illustration by Sarah Wilkins

LOCATION, LOCATION, location. Any real estate agent will testify to its importance, and, in fact, the GSB was founded in large part to provide a West Coast location that would stem the tide of young Californians going east to business school and then staying on.

Some 75 years later, it appears the tide has turned: Not only has the Stanford of the East come west, others are considering it too. Dartmouth's Tuck School, the University of Michigan's business school, and even the Haas School of Management from all the way back east at UC-Berkeley also are thinking of setting up "research centers" on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, close to the action of Silicon Valley. And one of the four, it is rumored, is even thinking of building a campus nearby so its students can get a semesterful of heady entrepreneurial Western air.

If imitation is indeed a form of flattery, we blush.