GSB Oral History Program is dedicated to the preservation of the collective memory of the School through recordings of faculty, 
staff, and alumni.

Spotlight

Hear again the voices of men and women present during the earliest days of the Stanford Business School. For example, a recording of Paul Holden, one of our first faculty members, who came to the GSB in 1926. Listen to a collection of audio recordings

"An Evening With Five Deans"

On Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013, a historic gathering of the five living Deans of the GSB took place in Cemex Auditorium, Stanford University. Current GSB Dean Garth Saloner moderates a panel including four previous Deans:  Arjay Miller, Robert Jaedicke, A. Michael Spence and Robert Joss. This is the third in our series of panels on GSB history.

"History of VC Education"

On Monday, May 14, 2012 in Cemex Auditorium, a panel convened to discuss the history of venture capital education at Stanford. This was the second in our ongoing series on the history of the GSB. Prof Charles Holloway led panel members John Glynn, Pitch Johnson and Peter Wendell as they discussed how VC classes began and evolved at the GSB.

"After the War"

Watch moderator James March lead a recent faculty panel at Cemex Auditorium on September 8, 2011 about transformation at the GSB after World War II, when the School began to evolve into a major center of academic research. This was the inaugural session in our ongoing series on the history of the GSB.

Other Highlights

• On October 28, 2010 the Oral History Program, together with the Public Management Program (PMP), held a panel discussion of the early years of the PMP. The panel, moderated by Prof Robert Flanagan, included PMP founder and former GSB Dean Arjay Miller,first PMP Director John Steinhart, and Profs Alain Enthoven, Henry Rowen and Charles Holloway.
• Watch the panel discussion held on May 29, 2009 in commemoration of George Leland Bach, Stanford faculty member who played a decisive role in the transformation of graduate business education in the Twentieth century.
• Step back into the past and listen to GSB Dean Ernest Arbuckle and Professors Theodore Kreps and Alexander Bavelas discuss the role of business education at a 1959 symposium. 1959 Speeches
• How have Stanford Business School faculty influenced future leaders? Lessons That Stand The Test Of Time is a fond look back at how inspiring teachers shaped today's executives.

Got stuff? If you are a member of the GSB community and have material that may have some historical significance to the School, please take a moment to visit GSB Archives Checklist.

Program Background

The Program was inspired by the realization that it has been more than 80 years since the Graduate School of Business was born, the brainchild of Stanford alumnus Herbert Hoover, and that memories of the earlier years of the School are rapidly disappearing. This has suggested a need to capture those institutional memories permanently. It is hoped that material generated by the program will provide a rich resource for future educators and historians.

Advisory Board

Our Oral History Advisory Board includes distinguished senior business school faculty. Members serve a two-year term. The Board advises the program on its general direction and suggests specific candidates to be interviewed.

The first Board (term 2007 - 2009) included former Dean Arjay Miller and emeriti faculty Robert Augsburger, Charles Bonini, Robert J. Flanagan and James March.

The second Board (term 2009 - 2011) included Emeritus Professors Charles Bonini, Alain C. Enthoven, Robert J. Flanagan, David B. Montgomery and James C. VanHorne.

The third and current Board (term 2012 - 2014) includes Emeritus Professors Charles Bonini, David B. Montgomery , George G. C. Parker, and James C. VanHorne.

Progress

The Oral History Advisory Board held its first annual meeting on Stanford campus, Tuesday, September 4, 2007. All members were in attendance: Arjay Miller, Robert Augsburger, Charles Bonini, Robert Flanagan and James March, with Paul Reist as Chair. It was agreed that the Program will drive toward two principal foci: (a) capturing the inception of the School's New Curriculum, as it happens, and (b) recording recollections of senior members of the Business School community. The Program will build resources for future research, and gather raw material that can be used to write an eventual history of the Graduate School of Business.

Since the 2007 Board meeting, Jackson staff have been energetically advancing the program. Interviewees include, among others, Dean Garth Saloner, Professor David Kreps, Professors Emeritus James T. S. Porterfield, James R. Miller III, Michael Ray, Alain Enthoven and Leonard Marks, Professor Emerita Joanne Martin, Dean Emeritus Arjay Miller, Associate Dean Emeritus Paul Johnson, GSB Alumni George Jedenoff and Ellen Uhrbrock, and others.

On October 15, 2008, the Advisory Board held its second annual meeting at the Graduate School of Business. The progress of the Program was reviewed, and new candidates for interviews were proposed.

The third annual meeting, held October 15, 2009, reviewed past progress and suggested new candidates for interviews. In addition, it was proposed that the evolution of certain GSB efforts, such as the Public Management Program (PMP), be historically documented. In response, a panel event on the early history of the PMP was held October 28, 2010.

The fourth annual meeting was held February 4, 2011. At that session the Board endorsed the idea of capturing the history of the various academic areas, e.g. finance, marketing, with discussion panels and short print publications.

On February 15, 2012 the fifth annual meeting was convened. The Board reaffirmed the concept of capturing the academic areas, and reviewed plans for other coming events and oral history interviews.

On January 24, 2013 the sixth annual meeting was held. The Board emphasized the need to capture the recollections of remaining figures from the historic 'transitional' period under Deans Arbuckle and Miller; this is especially important as the School approaches its 90th anniverary in 2015. It was also felt that faculty who have been recognized by academic societies should in particular be interviewed.

Acknowledgement

Special thanks to Kathy Long, Director of Jackson Library, and Karen Wilson, Christina Einstein, Cathy Castillo, Erica Richter, Lynne Reynolds and Roxanne Nilan for their support and enthusiasm in helping to implement this program.

Questions?

Contact Paul Reist, Manager, Oral History Program