On May 13, 2026, more than 360 students, alumni, and friends gathered at Traitel Building’s Hauck Auditorium to celebrate 30 years of entrepreneurial impact at Stanford GSB — and to dedicate the Center in honor of Chuck Holloway and Irv Grousbeck.
The program included a welcome from President Jonathan Levin, reflections on the Center’s founding and growth, a fireside chat unveiling the Center’s new naming, special remarks by one of the Center’s cofounders, and a look ahead from alumni founders shaping the next generation of entrepreneurship at the GSB.
We invite you to explore the videos below
Stanford President's Welcome
President Jonathan Levin, the Bing Presidential Professor, opens the celebration by welcoming students, alumni, and friends to mark 30 years of entrepreneurial impact at the GSB.
Entrepreneurship Today at the GSB
Stefanos Zenios, The Investment Group of Santa Barbara Professor of Entrepreneurship and Professor of Operations, Information & Technology, and Faculty Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, along with Deb Whitman, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, share a snapshot of entrepreneurial education and community at the GSB today.
Fireside Chat: GHCES Origins and Growth
Dean Sarah A. Soule, Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean and Morgridge Professor of Organizational Behavior, sits down with H. Irving Grousbeck, The MBA Class of 1980 Adjunct Professor of Management, Emeritus, to look back on the Center’s founding — including the unveiling of the Center’s new name, the Grousbeck-Holloway Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, in honor of Chuck Holloway and Irv Grousbeck.
Reflections and Remarks
H. Irving Grousbeck reflects on decades of teaching, mentoring, and building the entrepreneurship program at Stanford GSB.
The Future of GSB Entrepreneurship
Giving us all a peek at the future of GSB entrepreneurship and how our alums are having an impact in the world, four GSB alumni, five alumni – Jenny Xia Spradling (MBA ‘18) and Patrick Schmitt (MBA ‘18) of FreeWill, Will Ross (MBA ‘21) of Federato, Theresa Yu (MBA ‘25) of ReadyOn, and Joseph Kao (MSx ‘24) of Magnefy – share lightning talks on the ventures they are building after leaving the GSB.
Alumni Reflections
Alumni including Will Ross (MBA ‘21) of Federato, Joseph Kao (MSx ‘24) of Magnefy, Patrick Schmitt (MBA ‘18) and Jenny Xia Spradling (MBA ‘18) of FreeWill, Purvi Mody (MBA ‘04) of Insight Education, John Crean (MBA ‘92) of Kingdom Foods, Sara Rosenthal (MBA ‘04) of TTCER Partners and Women’s Search Network, and Alan Chiu (MSx ‘11) of Enya Labs reflect on how their time at the GSB — the teaching, the network, the relationships — has shaped their entrepreneurial and investment journeys, whether they graduated recently or decades ago.
Looking Ahead
Thirty years ago, Chuck Holloway and Irv Grousbeck set out to give Stanford GSB students the confidence, skills, and support to build something of their own. That founding vision was on full display in Hauck Auditorium on May 13—in the stories alumni shared, in the ventures bringing Stanford GSB’s entrepreneurial education to life, and in the warmth of a community that came together to celebrate, reconnect, and give thanks.
As the Grousbeck-Holloway Center for Entrepreneurial Studies begins its next chapter, we are honored to carry forward Chuck and Irv’s legacies. We’re deeply grateful to the faculty, alumni, students, donors, and friends who laid the foundation for entrepreneurship education at Stanford GSB and those who have carried that legacy forward through GHCES over the past three decades. Here’s to the next thirty years of bold founders, generous mentors, and the ideas that will change the world.
