Celebration Spotlights Alumni Volunteers and Faculty

At the 2019 fall reunion weekend, seven people received alumni volunteer and faculty awards for their contributions to the school.

October 18, 2019

 

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Award recipients with Dean Jonathan Levin. From left to right: Emily Maddox Liggett, Alison Elliott, J.D. Schramm, Jonathan Levin, Alison Graham, Ted Kaye, Art May. Not in attendance: Joseph Akerman. | Stacy Geiken

At its 2019 alumni weekend, Stanford Graduate School of Business recognized alumni and faculty for their volunteerism and support of alumni relations efforts.

Jonathan Levin, Philip H. Knight Professor and dean of Stanford GSB presented the John W. Gardner Volunteer Leadership Awards to six alums, and the Robert K. Jaedicke Award to lecturer J.D. Schramm at a ceremony on Friday, Oct. 4.

In his opening remarks, Dean Levin spoke about Stanford GSB alumni and their incredible camaraderie and heartfelt commitments to the school, as well as their remarkable career trajectories after graduating from the Stanford MBA Program. Alumni reunions, he said, are about renewing one’s ties and bonds to the school.

John W. Gardner Volunteer Leadership Awards

The John W. Gardner Volunteer Leadership Awards honor alumni volunteers who graduated at least 20 years ago and whose service has had a significant impact on the school. They are named for the late John W. Gardner, a Stanford alumnus and faculty member who served on the school’s first Advisory Council, received the Ernest C. Arbuckle Award for excellence in the field of management leadership, and was a lifelong advocate of volunteer service. Gardner’s influential career spanned the fields of advocacy, education, government, and philanthropy; he shaped many groundbreaking endeavors, including the White House Fellows Program, the public television network, Medicare, and Experience Corps. He also founded the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities, a center at the Stanford School of Education.

At Stanford GSB, alumni volunteers display boundary-crossing leadership. Last year alone, more than 12% of the school’s alumni (over 3,800 people) volunteered their time and expertise to hundreds of Stanford GSB programs including reunion committees and planning for alumni weekend.

The 2019 John W. Gardner Volunteer Leadership Awards honored the following volunteers:

Joseph Akerman, MBA ’69, served for more than four decades as the class secretary for the MBA Class of 1969. He began this role as class secretary upon graduation.

Alison Elliott, MBA ’84, co-created the Alumni Consulting Team and continues as a longtime volunteer with and supporter of ACT. She was also a board member for the Center for Social Innovation and a member of the 35th Reunion Planning Committee.

Alison Graham, MBA ’79, has been a volunteer for many of her class reunions, including co-chairing this year’s event and serving as a volunteer Class Agent and as a Women’s Circle leader. She also served on the Business School Fund Council and the Stanford GSB Alumni Association board.

Ted Kaye, MBA ’79, has served as both a class secretary and chapter officer for many years. He has always been a dependable reunion volunteer, and this year he is co-chairing his 40th reunion.

Emily Maddox Liggett, MBA Class of ’84, has been president of the Stanford GSB Alumni Association as well as an Advisory Council member, reunion chair, Class Agent, Seed coach, and member of the 35th Reunion Planning Committee.

Art May, MBA ’89, has served as a reunion volunteer since graduation. He has hosted students in his home and mentored many others. He advises the Black alumni chapter on their endowment, and has contributed to Stanford GSB efforts on focus groups and analyzing diverse alumni populations.

Robert K. Jaedicke Award

J.D. Schramm, who has taught as a lecturer in organizational behavior at Stanford GSB since 2007, was honored with the Robert K. Jaedicke Award.

Schramm teaches highly sought-out electives including Strategic Communication and Reputation Management. He co-founded the LOWKeynotes program, which has become an integral part of the Stanford GSB experience. He also coaches students, staff, and colleagues on how to deliver inspiring talks that change lives, organizations, and the world. A popular and frequent speaker at Stanford GSB alumni events, Schramm was recently named director of the King Global Leadership Program of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program.

The Robert K. Jaedicke Award (previously known as “Silver Apple”) honors Stanford GSB faculty members for their contributions to alumni relations with a special emphasis on support and participation in alumni events. Named for Robert K. Jaedicke, dean emeritus of Stanford GSB, the honoree is selected by senior external relations staff.

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