If anyone understands the challenges and opportunities associated with collaboration, it’s the managing partners of NGP Energy Capital Management LLC. With six offices in the United States and London, employees of the investment firm specializing in the energy sector frequently need to discuss strategies and plans for the 20-year-old company. So it’s fitting that three Stanford GSB alumni who lead the firm — Ken Hersh, MBA ’89; Billy Quinn, MBA ’98; and David Albin, MBA ’85 —have invested in a distinctive space, designed for collaboration, within the Knight Management Center, the school’s new campus that is under construction.
Despite graduating from classes that span 13 years, the alumni were all on the same page when it came to giving back to their alma mater. In recognition of their support for the Knight Management Center, the collaboration laboratory space will be named the NGP Collaboration Lab. The lab will include teleconferencing technology that will bring people together to share ideas and work in sync despite distance.
“The thoughts about that space are consistent with how NGP runs its business: flat organization, open communication, and transparency —those are values that we’ve built our firm around,” said Hersh, who is working out of the London office during its first year of operation and will later return to the company’s headquarters in Irving, Texas.
The high-energy lab is envisioned as a place for students and faculty from across Stanford GSB and Stanford to collaborate. It will contain a series of conference rooms for small to large groups, equipped with cutting-edge technology that will allow people to meet to generate ideas, get work done, create innovative business concepts, and contribute to Stanford’s interdisciplinary research.
“The collaboration lab reflects the forward-thinking design of the new campus, which is necessary to remain competitive and attract top students and faculty,” said Quinn, who works out of the Irving office. “We’re excited to be a part of Stanford GSB’s efforts to transform management education.”
Currently under construction, the new campus will enable the school to fully implement the revised MBA curriculum, with a focus on providing flexibility for new ways of teaching and learning and enhanced opportunities for interaction among students, faculty, alumni, and the broader community.
“The new campus will ensure that future graduates of Stanford GSB have the same life-changing experiences that we had,” said Albin, who lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His wife, Pamela Saunders Albin, MBA ’85, joined him in making the important investment in the new campus. “The Knight Management Center will truly keep the school at the forefront of management education.”
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