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Stanford Project on the Evolution of Nonprofits (SPEN): Leadership

Faculty Director

Walter W. Powell

Professor of Education, School of Education
Professor of Organizational Behavior (by courtesy), Stanford Graduate School of Business
Professor of Sociology (by courtesy), School of Humanities and Sciences
Professor of Management Science and Engineering, School of Engineering
Co-director, Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society

Walter W. Powell works in the areas of organization theory and economic sociology. He is affiliated with the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he is Faculty Director of the Stanford Project on the Evolution of Nonprofits (SPEN).

Professor Powell has been involved in a number of studies of nonprofit organizations, ranging from public television to university presses to higher education. He edited The Nonprofit Sector (1987); the second edition, with Richard Steinberg, was published in 2006. He is also co-editor with Elisabeth Clemens of Private Action and the Public Good (1998). Professor Powell is most widely known for his contributions to institutional analysis. He is currently engaged in research on the origins and development of the field of life sciences and has recently authored a series of papers on the evolving network structure of the biotechnology industry. His 1996 Administrative Science Quarterly paper with Ken Koput, "Inter-organizational Collaboration and the Locus of Innovation," recently received the journal's award for most influential paper over the past five years. His 2005 article on the evolution of collaboration in the life sciences industry, which appeared in the American Journal of Sociology, recently received the Zelizer Prize for best article published in economic sociology in 2005 and 2006. Professor Powell is a member of the board of directors of the Social Science Research Council. Faculty Profile

Managing Director

Denise L. Gammal

Denise Gammal is Managing Director of the Stanford Project on the Evolution of Nonprofits. She received her AB in politics from Princeton University in 1989 and her doctorate from Cambridge University (UK) in social and political sciences in 1998. Her research interests include public and social sector management, crisis management, media relations, and organizational accountability. Dr. Gammal joined Professor Powell to launch SPEN in August 2002. In July 2007, the project transitioned from its first intensive phase of data collection to one focused on analysis and publishing. She remains actively engaged in the project from her new position as Director of Research and Evaluation for United Way of the Bay Area. She also serves on two local nonprofit boards.

Research Team

Hokyu Hwang, Researcher, PhD Stanford University
Tricia Martin, PhD candidate, Stanford University
Ellen O'Connor, Researcher, PhD University of Chicago
Caroline Simard, Researcher, PhD Stanford University
David Suarez, Researcher, PhD Stanford University

Contact

Professor Walter W. Powell
Stanford Project on the Evolution of Nonprofits
532 Ceras Building
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-3084

Email: spen@gsb.stanford.edu