A Memorable Day of Celebration for Stanford GSB’s Centennial

On October 10, more than 3,200 alumni, students, faculty, and staff gathered at Stanford Graduate School of Business to commemorate its Centennial with an on-campus day of celebration. “This has been a century of curiosity, generosity, and community,” said Sarah A. Soule, the Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean, and Morgridge Professor of Organizational Behavior. “And it is a privilege to celebrate not just the school’s centennial, but the people who have defined it.”

Image

Cory Hall

Class reunions, panel discussions, and other sessions provided opportunities for people to come together at the Knight Management Center during the day. An evening show at Frost Amphitheater — featuring notable speakers, interactive exhibits, and musical performances — capped off the celebration.

The themes of connection, innovation, and hopefulness were woven throughout the events. “The idea that we can manage the impossible is something that will keep us going for the next hundred years,” said Lord Browne of Madingley, MS ’81, former CEO of BP, co-founder and chairman of BeyondNetZero, in an alumni panel about the next generation of leaders. “I’m very optimistic because what the GSB does best is to produce great — and why not say the best — leaders out there,” said Carlos Brito, MBA ’89, CEO of Belron, former CEO of AB InBev. “And the world will always need that.”

Image

The “Leaders in Business and Society” alumni panel was moderated by Dean Soule and featured Lord Browne of Madingley (speaking), Carlos Brito, Patti Poppe, and Roelof Botha. | Elena Zhukova

At the evening show, Stanford President and former Stanford GSB Dean Jonathan Levin summed up the business school’s pioneering role, now and moving forward: “Stanford is the university of the American frontier, and it has the best characteristics of the frontier: openness, exploration, and possibility. No part of Stanford embodies this more than the GSB.”

Community Connections and Thought-Provoking Panels

The day began with alumni convening at the Knight Management Center; many were attending their 25th, 30th, 35th, 40th, 45th, and half-century reunions. “I think the greatest gift the business school has given me is the community,” said Maya Dhir, MS ’20, who traveled from New York. “I will go through extraordinary lengths to come and say hello to my friends and just to be in this atmosphere.”

Alumni also attended a series of four panels over the course of the day. These discussions explored academic ideas in greater depth and provided moments of introspection, levity, and reminiscing.

In “Remember When You Got the Call?,” former MBA deans of admission shared stories from their time at the business school. Laughter — and some tears — accompanied the recollections, especially around the iconic phone calls that every admitted MBA and MSx (formerly known as Sloan) student receives. “There was the general sense of disbelief — that we were playing a joke [on them],” said Lawrence Lieberman, MBA ’75, director of admissions 1976–81.

Kirsten Moss, assistant dean of admissions and financial aid 2017–23, and now a lecturer in management, heard a full five minutes of celebratory yelling, then crying, after giving a first-generation student and his wife the good news. “And then he said, ‘This call’s going to change my family’s life, my life, my kids’ lives,’” Moss said. “And I knew what he was saying was true.”

Several distinguished alumni spoke at “Leaders in Business and Society.” Roelof Botha, MBA ’00, partner at Sequoia Capital, and Patti Poppe, MS ’05, CEO of PG&E, joined Carlos Brito and Lord Browne on stage to speak with Dean Soule, who described the group as “incredible examples of what the GSB is and what we’ll continue to do for the next 100 years.” The wide-ranging discussion included favorite Stanford GSB courses, leadership challenges, the effect of AI on their industries, and hopes for the future.

Botha then moderated a panel with former — and the current — deans of Stanford GSB. “We have this opportunity to get a perspective from the deans that have shaped the school for the last 35 years, and the dean that is leading us into the GSB’s second century,” Botha said. “It’s not often that a student gets to cold-call the professor, let alone the dean, let alone all five!” Soule and Levin were joined by Garth Saloner, PhD ’82, Botha-Chan Professor of Economics; Robert L. Joss, Sloan ’66, MBA ’67, PhD ’70, Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean, Emeritus; and A. Michael Spence, Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean, Emeritus. In a wide-ranging talk, the deans spoke about seminal moments in their tenures, challenges faced, how the community supports the dean, and the role the GSB has to play in the future of education.

The final panel, “Forward Momentum,” was a programming- and impact-centered discussion where professors and lecturers shared innovative research and teaching activities happening under GSB centers and initiatives. The discussion featured Ken Shotts, PhD ’99, the David S. and Ann M. Barlow Professor of Political Economy; Neil Malhotra, PhD ’08, the Edith M. Cornell Professor of Political Economy; Stefanos Zenios, the Investment Group of Santa Barbara Professor of Entrepreneurship and Professor of Operations, Information & Technology; Scott Brady, MS ’00, Lecturer in Management; Peter M. DeMarzo, the John G. McDonald Professor of Finance; Erik Ragatz, MBA ’01, Lecturer in Management; Anne Beyer, the Staehelin Family Professor of Accounting, and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Amit Seru, the Steven and Roberta Denning Professor of Finance, and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; and Saloner.

Topics such as the importance of research, the evolution of industries, emerging technologies, and preparing students to create real impact were all explored — in addition to new initiatives and directions for Stanford GSB, such as the AI@GSB initiative and the Initiative for Investing. “I think it’s that rigorous, curious, entrepreneurial mindset that really defines what’s unique about Stanford,” said DeMarzo, speaking to the capacity of Stanford GSB grads to adapt to change and anticipate what’s coming next. “That’s really what we’re best at.”

A Night to Remember

As the sun dipped behind the palm trees around campus, alumni, students, faculty, and staff made their way to Frost Amphitheater for the evening event, where they were welcomed into the venue with a series of interactive exhibits. Friends posed for photos amidst glittering lights; people added their own memories and events to a community-built Stanford GSB timeline of the past century; a button-making booth allowed people to collect and personalize their flair; and a digital photo mosaic was filled with memories.

Image

The button wall was a popular exhibit at Frost Amphitheater. | SF Photo Agency

The main event was in the amphitheater, where the Stanford GSB community sat on chairs or colorful blankets to listen to an array of inspiring speakers, musical acts, and storytelling moments. “Tonight, we are here to celebrate everyone who has said yes to the call and who has shown up for this community,” said Erin Nixon, MBA ’10, assistant dean of admissions and financial aid. “Together we are united by more than our ambition. We are united by our commitment to the future, our authentic connection, and our drive to make lasting impact in the world.”

Dean Soule spoke of answering her own call from President Levin to lead Stanford GSB, and the school’s history of helping nurture “ideas that at first seemed crazy or fragile or impossible” — citing examples created by alumni such as Zoom, Nike, EarthEnable, and DoorDash. “The crazy ideas of the next 100 years are already among us,” she said, likening the iteration process to the formation of a mosaic, with disparate fragments creating a whole. “Our task is to keep creating this mosaic with curiosity to push us deeper, generosity to bring others with us, and community to hold us together.”

Image

Dean Soule spoke to the audience at Frost Amphitheater. | SF Photo Agency

President Levin spoke of optimism as foundational to the business school. “Like Stanford itself, the GSB is a place to look forward to the next frontier. No one has captured that better than Peter Wegner, when he wrote the cornerstone for the Knight Management Center: ‘Dedicated to the things that haven’t happened yet, and the people who are about to dream them up,’” he said. “There could be no better ethos for a school entering a new century.”

Other memorable moments included a video testament to Stanford GSB faculty and staff, an original musical composition by Hitomi Oba — titled In Brightness — performed by the San Francisco Symphony Brass Ensemble, and shared highlights of the recent two-day Faculty Celebration of Scholarship by Jennifer Aaker, PhD ’95, the General Atlantic Professor, and George G.C. Parker, MBA ’62, PhD ’67, the Dean Witter Distinguished Professor of Finance, Emeritus.

A group of alumni, student, faculty, and staff representatives urged the audience to answer the call of the next century, asking them to “shine your light” with their cellphone flashlights and “set the stage for our future and the future of further generations of students whose time at the GSB will produce positive impact across our world,” said Anne Rosenblatt, MBA ’26.

A concert by the musical group OK Go topped off the evening, followed by a dance party with DJ J. Espinosa, who kept revelers dancing into the night.

Image

A concert by the musical group OK Go topped off the evening. | SF Photo Agency

It was a day of celebration, but also a moment to usher in the future. As Dean Soule said, “Tonight, beneath the open sky, let us remember that this Centennial is not only a marker of where we have been. It is a launchpad for where we will go.”