A Century of Stanford GSB Deans

As the school gets ready for its 100th birthday, we take a look back at the leaders who shaped it.

 

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Jonathan Levin | Aubrey Pick

Jonathan Levin

Dean 2016–2024

Pre-Dean CV: Stanford undergrad, awarded the John Bates Clark Medal (for an outstanding American economist under 40), joined Stanford faculty in 2000, joined GSB faculty in 2010

GSB Legacy: New investments in teaching and research; creation of the Research Hub; expansion of the online LEAD program and Stanford Seed; launch of the Business, Government, and Society initiative

Quote: “It’s just incredibly important to keep in mind that markets, that private enterprise, coupled with stable political, legal institutions can be the single greatest engine for societal progress. It’s particularly important to keep that in mind at a business school, because that is the engine we’re trying to build and support.… We hope students when they come here are going to be inspired to take on big challenges, and then to do it in ways that will restore people’s faith in business and the ways it contributes to society.” (2022)

Fun Fact: Levin told Stanford magazine that his “first leadership experience” at the Farm was as president of the kayaking club, which paddled on Lake Lagunita.

 

 

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Garth Saloner | Toni Bird

Garth Saloner

Dean 2009–2016

Pre-Dean CV: Stanford PhD in economics, business, and public policy; taught at MIT and Harvard before joining the GSB in 1990

GSB Legacy: Inauguration of new Knight campus, introduction of new MBA curriculum, expansion of faculty and PhD program

Quote: “I think that it is clear that while we can trace a great deal of what we have accomplished to our hard work, talents, and drive, we must surely admit — at least to ourselves in the privacy of our own thoughts — that for each of us good fortune has played a role.… And surely at least that portion of our success creates an obligation to give back, to share our largesse with others.” (2012)

Fun Fact: Had a vanity license plate that read “CHANGE 3” — a reference to the GSB’s motto “Change lives, change organizations, change the world.”

 

 

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Robert Joss | GSB Archives

Robert Joss, MS ’65, MBA ’67, PhD ’70

Dean 1999–2009

Pre-Dean CV: GSB grad, vice chairman of Wells Fargo, CEO of Westpac

GSB Legacy: Development of new Knight campus, new curriculum, multidisciplinary collaborations, expansion of endowment

Quote: “[At] all great institutions the real secret is, can you keep moving it forward? Can you keep challenging it?… I always figure the role of a leader is to see if you can change it for the better, and get people excited about changing it for the better.” (2013)

Fun Fact: In 2016, Joss was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia, the country’s equivalent of a knighthood, for his work in the banking industry Down Under.

 

 

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A. Michael Spence | GSB Archives

A. Michael Spence

Dean 1990–1999

Pre-Dean CV: Associate professor of economics at GSB, professor of economics and business administration and dean of faculty at Harvard

GSB Legacy: Expansion of the Executive Education program, creation of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, construction of the Schwab Residential Center

Quote: “There’s nothing wrong with conventional wisdom, because it is sort of wisdom. The problem is, it’s conventional. And because it’s conventional, it’s the enemy of creativity. It’s a substitute for wondering if you can see this in a totally different way.” (2004)

Fun Fact: Shared the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics for his work on signaling in markets with asymmetric information.

 

 

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Robert Jaedicke | GSB Archives

Robert Jaedicke

Dean 1983–1990

Pre-Dean CV: Professor of accounting at GSB, acting dean 1979–80

GSB Legacy: Campus move to the Littlefield Management Center, expansion of computing, fundraising to fix damage from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake

Fun Fact: “Cowboy Bob” kept Western-themed décor in his office, including a barbed wire collection.

 

 

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Rene C. McPherson | GSB Archives

Rene C. McPherson

Dean 1980–1982

Pre-Dean CV: Chairman and CEO of Dana Corp.

GSB Legacy: Stepped down prematurely due to the health effects of a car crash.

Fun Fact: Asked why he came to the GSB, McPherson replied, “What was it Marlon Brando said? Oh yes — it was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

 

 

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Arjay Miller | GSB Archives

Arjay Miller

Dean 1969–1979

Pre-Dean CV: President of Ford Motor Co., got his start as one of the company’s postwar “Whiz Kids”

GSB Legacy: Introduction of “balanced excellence,” launch of the Public Management Program, advocacy for the role of business in working for the public good

Quote: “I am fully convinced that we as a people do have the power, actual or potential, to alleviate the ills of our present society. But we have not yet learned to use that power in massive ways to meet massive social needs.” (1968)

Fun Fact: In addition to inspiring the Friends of Arjay Miller (FOAM), he was also the namesake of a student band, the Arjays.

 

 

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Samuel “Pete” Pond | GSB Archives

Samuel “Pete” Pond, MBA ’39

Acting dean 1968–1969

Pre-Dean CV: GSB grad, World War II veteran, associate dean of the GSB

Quote: “Unless you’re some kind of a hermit, your executive and creative powers must be exercised in some kind of organization.” (1963)

 

 

 

 

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Ernest C. Arbuckle | GSB Archives

Ernest C. Arbuckle, MBA ’36

Dean 1958–1968

Pre-Dean CV: Stanford undergrad and GSB grad, awarded the Silver Star in World War II, held executive positions at W.R Grace and Co., Standard Oil of California, and Wells Fargo

GSB Legacy: Credited with creating the modern GSB, increasing enrollment, strengthening academics, and doubling the size of the faculty. Namesake of Arbuckle Dining Pavilion

Quote: “There is no career that can match business in diversity of intellectual interest, in the urge to achieve, which results from the stimulus of competition, in the opportunity to cause change and the necessity of adapting to it, and in the responsibility for providing the decision making kind of leadership that is indispensable to a vigorous, free society.” (1968)

Fun Fact: Arbuckle led the “Give ’em the Axe” cheer at a 1967 football game. The Stanford Daily reported that the crowd went wild as he “freaked out” on the cheerleading platform. (Watch Arbuckle leading the chant at a 1975 GSB event.)

 

 

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Carlton Pederson | GSB Archives

Carlton A. Pederson

Acting dean 1956–1958

Pre-Dean CV: GSB professor of management

GSB Legacy: Creation of the Sloan program (now MSx)

Fun Fact: Coauthor of the Professional Salesman’s Creed, whose 10 tenets include “I will maintain an optimistic and positive attitude toward my business at all times.”

 

 

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Jacob Hugh Jackson | GSB Archives

Jacob Hugh Jackson

Dean 1931–1956

Pre-Dean CV: CPA, professor at Harvard Business School

GSB Legacy: The longest-serving dean and namesake of GSB library from 1956 to 2011. Established the school’s focus on “scientific management.”

Quote: “My experience and observation convinces me that professional training for business parallels rather closely comparable training for any other of life’s callings.” (1934)

Fun Fact: In 1933, Jackson ran as a “dry” candidate for a California convention on the repeal of Prohibition.

 

 

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Willard E. Hotchkiss | GSB Archives

Willard E. Hotchkiss

Dean 1925–1931

Pre-Dean CV: Helped found business schools at Northwestern and University of Minnesota

GSB Legacy: Led a new business school with a $40,000 endowment and 16 students. (Two graduated.)

Quote: “Pacific Coast businessmen need the type of men and women who have the intellect and ambition to complete the kind of course that the new school offers and nowhere in the United States are the graduates of this school of business likely to find better and more expanding opportunity for real achievement and success than here on the Pacific Coast.” (1925)

Fun Fact: Hotchkiss has a LinkedIn page, presumably created by a fan.