06-01-2017, 06:20 AM
Last night I attended Marc Tessier-Lavigne's visit with the Stanford alums in the Boston area. He is not as dynamic a presence as John Hennessy, but I came away with the belief that he is the right person for the job at this moment in Stanford's history. He is clearly an introvert and that will suit him well in this role. Because they are such good listeners, I've come to the belief that introverts often make the best leader of leaders (an observation I've made here about Kevin Hogan). He also has the brains and academic track record that the faculty will support his leadership. He also has that extensive experience in industry (former CSO of Genentech) that made Hennessy such a good president for the school. No other university in the world operates in that nexus between the academy and industry as well as Stanford. The Board of Trustees chose wisely.
In a conversation with an officer of the University, I expressed my confidence that MTL would be a good caretaker. The officer took exception to that characterization. He shared his concern that at this moment in Stanford's history, the greatest danger is hubris. He said MTL was humble and unrelenting, and that was why he was the right choice for the job.
The biggest worry for me is MTL hiring the wrong successor for Rick Shaw i.e. Robin Mamlet 2.0.
In a conversation with an officer of the University, I expressed my confidence that MTL would be a good caretaker. The officer took exception to that characterization. He shared his concern that at this moment in Stanford's history, the greatest danger is hubris. He said MTL was humble and unrelenting, and that was why he was the right choice for the job.
The biggest worry for me is MTL hiring the wrong successor for Rick Shaw i.e. Robin Mamlet 2.0.
