Laura Jones, MBA Class of '09 review notes after she returned from a trip to Myanmar in connection with the class Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability. Story
Top Stories
Whole Foods’ John Mackey Is Out to Change American Business
John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods Market chain, has loftier goals than getting Americans to eat healthy foods, one of the missions of his grocery empire. He is out to change American business as well, putting it on the path to higher consciousness.
Stanford Graduate School of Business Hosts Socially and Environmentally Responsible Supply Chain Conference
The Stanford Graduate School of Business will host the April 29 conference, "Collaboration for the Greater Good: Social and Environmental Responsibility in the Global Supply Chain," presented by the Global Supply Chain Management Forum and the Center for Social Innovation, in partnership with AMR Research.
Forbes: Farm Grads Most Satisfied
Stanford Daily, January 27, 2010
Electric Cars Are Alive and Well, Says Carlos Ghosn
The electric car, a vehicle that was practically gone before it arrived, is anything but dead, Carlos Ghosn, the widely celebrated CEO of both Nissan and Renault, told a Stanford Graduate School of Business audience.
Balance of Power Shift Coming Says Wolfensohn, Former World Bank President
In the next 40 years, a global power shift will see today's leading economic countries drop from having 80% of the world's income to 35%, says John Wolfensohn, former World Bank president. By 2030, two-thirds of people in the world's middle class will be Chinese.
Pulin Sanghvi Named Director of Career Management Center at
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Pulin Sanghvi, MBA ’97, has been named assistant dean and director of the Career Management Center which offers career counseling and placement services for business school students.
Conservation Champion Robert Augsburger Dies
Robert R. Augsburger’s teaching career gave him a chance to share all he had learned about nonprofit management with thousands of MBA students “who are 'out there doing it.' “died on Dec. 31 at his home in Portola Valley. The cause of death was a brain tumor. He was 83. Profile of Augsburger class (From Stanford Business 1990)
TARP Head Allison Challenges the Banking Industry
Banking industry executives need to look broadly at chanbes to reform the American financial system, says Herbert Allison, MBA '71, the head of the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Networking Is More Than Lots of Names, Says Heidi Roizen
Networking is more than having a hefty collection of business cards and attending A-list parties. Heidi Roizen has been a Silicon Valley CEO, a venture capitalist, and a corporate board member but “the homework never ends,” she told students.
The Failure Mechanics of Dealer Banks
Prof. Darrel Duffie offers lessons from the financial crisis, and how banks that are major dealers in securities and derivatives can quickly unravel as their counterparts and customers rush for the exits.
Don’t Invest in Russia Today, Warns Bill Browder
Hermitage Capital Management went from $25 million to $4 billion by investing in undervalued Russian companies. Today its founder, Bill Browder, MBA '89, says anyone investing in Russia long term "is out of their mind."
Nobel Laureate Sharpe: There Are No Shortcuts in Investing
Although Nobel Laureate William F. Sharpe didn't give listeners any new advice about how to weather the current financial crisis and fill the holes in their portfolios, he did explain during a speech on the Stanford University campus how futile it is to read sure-thing investing books or watch the latest financial guru to find easy answers.
Chair Established to Honor Professor Van Horne
Alumni and friends of Professor James C. Van Horne have established an endowed chair in his honor.
September 11 Attacks Changed FBI Focus
Today the Federal Bureau of Investigation is more focused on counterterrorism around the world than on racking up big numbers of arrests FBI Director Robert Mueller told a Stanford Graduate School of Business audience.
Don't Waste Volunteers' Time
Many nonprofits fail to use their volunteers effectively, asking them to stuff envelopes when they could be doing more skilled and mission-critical work, speakers told a Stanford conference. While financial donations dropped in 2008, volunteering rose to more than 8 billion hours of service, worth an estimated $162 billion.
Oliver Williamson, MBA '60, Shares Nobel Economics Prize
UC Berkeley Professor Oliver Williamson, a 1960 MBA alumnus of the Stanford GSB, shares the 2009 Nobel Prize in economics with Elinor Ostrom of Indiana University.
Montgomery Named INFORMS Fellow
David B. Montgomery has been named a fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). The Kresge Professor of Marketing Emeritus, Montgomery was cited for "research contributions to marketing science, marketing strategy, and global marketing and management."
Economics Prize for John Van Reenen
John Van Reenen, director of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics and a visiting professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, is the 2009 recipient of the Yrjö Jahnsson Award in Economics.
Microlending Gives Dignity to People with Leprosy
In India, microlending has been a powerful tool in helping individuals with leprosy move from a life of begging to economic self-sufficiency, leaders of the group Rising Star Outreach told a student audience at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.
2009 Social Innovation Fellowships Awarded to Two MBA Recent Grads
Recent MBA graduates Federico Lozano Fernandez and Jayampathy "Chari" Ratwatte Jr are the first recipients of Stanford Social Innovation Fellowships for their nonprofit ventures to serve disadvantaged populations in Mexico and Sri Lanka, respectively.
Five Stanford MBA Students Honored as 2009 Siebel Scholars
Five accomplished second-year MBA students have been named 2009 Siebel Scholars based on their academic achievement, leadership, and citizenship within the Stanford Graduate School of Business community during their first year. The honor includes a tuition grant of $35,000 from the program, established by the Siebel Scholars Foundation to recognize the most talented students at the world’s leading graduate schools of business and computer science.
Business School Taps Tesla Motors for Global Executive Program
Tesla Motors will be featured as a weeklong class project for global executives studying customers’ car-buying experience as part of the Customer-Focused Innovation executive education program offered this fall at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Students Tackle Electric Car Retrofit
Faculty-student research on how to get electric cars rolling.
A Professor’s Lasting Influence
Jacqueline Novogratz, MBA '91, recounts what she learned from Common Cause founder John Gardner, with excerpts from her 2009 autobiography, The Blue Sweater.
Tanks That Shaped History Offer Lessons for Soldiers and Scholars
The late Jacques Littlefield, MBA ’73, loved tanks and the engineering that went into them. Today part of his legacy is the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation, a collection of nearly 50 tanks from all over the world, located on Littlefield's estate in Portola Valley and managed by Foundation President Bill Boller, MBA ’71.
Stanford Business School Scholars Honored with Top Marketing Awards
Marketing Professors V. “Seenu” Srinivasan and James Lattin, and their former doctoral student, Oded Netzer, were honored by the INFORMS Society for Marketing Science at its recent Marketing Science conference.
Yes I (Gulp) Can: Peter Henry’s Obama Adventure
Economist Peter Henry spent 10 intense months in the maelstrom of national politics, leading then candidate Barack 0bama’s group on Economics, Globalization and Trade Policy during the 2008 campaign. He collected position papers and tracked down surrogates who could knowledgeably speak for the Obama Campaign on economic issues. He even found himself in front of the microphones.
Stanford Hosts Silicon Valley Roundtable for White House Office of Social Innovation
White House Office of Social Innovation officials gathered with Silicon Valley philanthropy, business, and nonprofit leaders in a roundtable convened by the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Stanford MBA Class First to Graduate Under New Curriculum
The 2009 commencement ceremonies at the Graduate School of Business marked several firsts and lasts. The MBA class was the first to complete the newly redesigned curriculum and it also was the first class that had 100 percent participation toward a cash gift of $1.1 million in pledges and matching funds. The ceremony was also the last for Robert L. Joss, who retires as Dean after 10 years of service.
Stanford Social Innovation Fellowships Awarded to Two MBA Students’ Ventures
The School’s Center for Social Innovation has awarded its first Social Innovation Fellowships to graduating MBA students Federico Lozano Fernandez and Jayampathy “Chari” Ratwatte Jr. for their nonprofit ventures to serve disadvantaged populations in Mexico and Sri Lanka, respectively.
Biodesign: Curing With Innovation
The objective of Stanford’s Biodesign program is to teach medical-technical innovation by giving graduate students and fellows the opportunity to develop medical products and bring their innovations to market. The course draws graduate students from business, engineering, and other disciplines.
What's It Like to be the Boss of the "Most Interesting Man in the World?"
He’s suave, he’s wise, and his advice is always: “Stay thirsty, my friends.” Jose Antonio Fernandez, chairman and CEO of FEMSA, the largest bottler in Latin America, is the man behind the ad campaign featuring The Most Interesting Man in the World.
In Africa and at Home, Supply Chains Are Getting Kinder and Greener
Solutions to supply chain problems from motorcycle parts in Africa to grocery delivery and solar power in the US were shared at the Advancing Socially and Environmentally Responsible Supply Chains Conference presented by the Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum and the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
New Source of Loans for GSB’s International Graduate Students
Stanford Graduate School of Business announced the launch of a new private loan program through Star One Credit Union to provide financial assistance to students admitted to the School’s MBA, PhD, and Sloan Master’s programs. An especially welcome relief to international students, the custom loans, which cover tuition and living expenses, will be available to those without a U.S. co-signer.
Stanford Social Innovation Review Article Offers Ways to Promote Ethical Conduct
In the summer 2009 issue, two Stanford Law School scholars examine the ethical issues that arise specifically in the nonprofit sector. Also in this issue, GSB coauthors Bethany Coates and Garth Saloner spotlight Kiva's path to becoming a nonprofit, and advantages as well as the costs of being 501(c)(3).
Oracle CFO's Career Didn't Follow Straight Path
When Jeff Epstein earned his Stanford MBA in 1979 and went to work for Boston Consulting Group on Sand Hill Road, he didn’t know about a young company a mile away—a company that would later become Oracle. Three decades later, Epstein is Oracle’s chief financial officer, but his path was no simple one-mile drive.
Leadership Means Responsibility
In his View from the Top speech, Dean Robert Joss defines what it means to be "at the top": "It's any position where you take responsibility for a group with a mission to fulfill."
Three Honored as Distinguished Teachers
Faculty members Ilya Strebulaev, Baba Shiv, and Alan Jagolinzer were honored with 2009 Distinguished Teaching Awards by students in the School’s MBA, PhD, and Sloan Master’s Program, respectively.
Garth Saloner Named Ninth Dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business
Economist Garth Saloner, a scholar of entrepreneurship and business strategy, will be the next dean of Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, President John Hennessy and Provost John Etchemendy announced May 26.

