RIP Don Kennedy - Printable Version
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RIP Don Kennedy - 82lsju - 04-21-2020
he passed away today
https://news.stanford.edu/2020/04/21/donald-kennedy-stanfords-eighth-president-dead-88/
RE: RIP Don Kennedy - PVTree - 04-21-2020
(04-21-2020, 04:28 PM)82lsju Wrote: he passed away today
https://news.stanford.edu/2020/04/21/donald-kennedy-stanfords-eighth-president-dead-88/
Saddened by these news. DK was president during my time as a student. I enjoyed and respected that he came to my dorm to speak with us and hear our concerns and questions.
He's joined Dean Fred and, I will always remember them fondly.
RE: RIP Don Kennedy - winflop - 04-22-2020
My two favorite quotes:
"Question authority" - he made this comment without qualification or equivocation, and did so purposely
"Remember, when you leave, why you came" - made you think back to the time when you made a decision - any decision - and ask yourself if you achieved what you wanted to achieve
RE: RIP Don Kennedy - Spiny_Norman - 04-22-2020
(04-22-2020, 05:28 AM)winflop Wrote: My two favorite quotes:
"Question authority" - he made this comment without qualification or equivocation, and did so purposely
"Remember, when you leave, why you came" - made you think back to the time when you made a decision - any decision - and ask yourself if you achieved what you wanted to achieve
Don Kennedy always concluded his commencement addresses with a wonderful quote from Adlai Stevenson who had delivered his words to the senior class at Princeton in 1954. Kennedy beautifully delivered these lines and they never failed to touch me deeply.
"Your days are short here; this is the last of your springs. And now in the serenity and quiet of this lovely place, touch the depths of truth, feel the hem of Heaven. You will go away with old, good friends. And don't forget when you leave why you came."
RE: RIP Don Kennedy - oldalum - 04-22-2020
a Donald Kennedy story from 1974 (long, boring, recommend you skip):
When I was a high school senior, there were no such things as college admissions info sessions, tours, etc. So a few friends and I decided to skip a few days of class and go visit local colleges (Stanford, Berkeley, Davis) on our own. First up was Stanford (closest), where the admissions office gave us a course schedule and we picked a few classes at random to sit in on. We went to a philosophy class which was so boring that I never took it in college, even though I should have. Then we went to a Human Bio core class in Dinkelspiel, which was being taught by one of the founders of human bio, Prof. Kennedy. I remember that class session like it was yesterday--it was that good. He was explaining anatomy and functioning of various parts of the nervous system, using overheads of diagrams that he would then add to in colors as he spoke. The students had a copy of the overheads, and they drew on them using these large pens that housed 4 different color points, and whenever Kennedy changed color you could hear this chorus of clicks as the students changed colors. Anyway, he was tracing the path of an image as it went through the eye and the retina and then through the optic nerve, splitting and crossing over at the optic chasm to permit 3-D vision, finally back to the occipital lobe. When he finished, he looked at it a few moments and told the students he realized he had messed it up and he was going to do it over again. Loud groaning (the students had already copied everything in ink on their paper diagrams). But he said, no, this is good I made this mistake. I don't want you to memorize this stuff; you need to understand it well enough to figure it out on your own. And he went through it again, explaining how he knew he had gotten it wrong and figuring it out along the way again. I'll always remember his response to making a mistake: embracing it and turning it into a much more important learning lesson. I was excited about going to college and learning from professors like him.
After he had retired, I happened to run into him hiking alone on a trail in the Desolation Wilderness. He was as friendly and hardy and sharp as ever.
Very unfortunate that his tenure as president was ended by the indirect cost brouhaha.
RE: RIP Don Kennedy - BostonCard - 04-22-2020
I shared this anecdote in the COVID board:
Another anecdote about Kennedy (indirect).
My wife's grandfather, who was a professor in the History department at Stanford had a cardiac arrest. Fortunately he survived, and when he regained consciousness, the doctor tried to assess his mental status.
Doctor: "What's your name?"
Wife's grandfather: "Wayne"
Doctor: "Great. Do you know where you are?"
Wayne: "I'm at the hospital... Stanford hospital"
Doctor: "Yes. Do you know what date it is"
Wayne: *Is pretty close on the date*
Doctor: "Good enough. Who's the President?"
Wayne: "Kennedy"
*puzzled looks from the doctor *
Wayne "Donald Kennedy. You asked me for the president. He's the Stanford president"
Doctor: "Oh! I meant the President of the United States"
Wayne "Oh, that's George Bush, I think"
BC
RE: RIP Don Kennedy - Nan3cy - 04-22-2020
My two favorite Don Kennedy anecdotes:
First, the department in the administration where I worked in the early 90s was ground zero for the government investigation into Stanford’s indirect cost policies. Once a month or so, he would come to our office at lunch time, sit in our conference room and invite any or all of the staff to join him and eat our lunch while we asked him whatever we wanted to ask about the controversy, on any subject, “including the damn boat.” (Some of you will remember what that refers to.) After Gerhard Casper became president in 1992 (two years before the brouhaha was settled), neither he nor Condi, his Provost, darkened the door of our department, not once. I didn’t fully appreciate DK’s openness at the time my fellows and I were experiencing it.
Second, I am (as some of you probably know) a lifelong Tom Lehrer fan. When Don was asked for his opinion of the Band during the time of the Oregon spotted owl controversy, his response was a variation on something Lehrer said about himself; he said “their muse [was] not burdened by such inhibitions as taste.” Once I knew he was a Lehrer aficionado, I struck up a conversation with him about the guy, and Don proudly told me that he purchased Tom Lehrer’s first album from his very own hands in Harvard Square.
RIP Don.
RE: RIP Don Kennedy - Papa John - 04-22-2020
Did anyone else buy a copy of The Last of Your Springs (1998)?
RE: RIP Don Kennedy - newguy - 04-23-2020
his concerns about injecting antibiotics into farm animals were clearly prescient.
and i wonder what would have happened in the earthquake if he hadn't retrofitted Roble.
RE: RIP Don Kennedy - 82lsju - 04-23-2020
from the Stanford Magazine
Quote:‘He Changed the Face of Stanford’
Donald Kennedy left a lasting legacy of public service and inspirational leadership.
https://stanfordmag.org/contents/he-changed-the-face-of-stanford/?utm_source=saa_twitter&utm_medium=social_click&utm_content=he-changed-the-face-of-stanford&sf121233557=1