Isaac Stein : An Oral History
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Isaac Stein, who served on Stanford’s Board of Trustees from 1994 to 2016 and chaired the Board from 2000 to 2004, speaks about his education, legal and business career, and his extensive and multifaceted service and leadership at Stanford. Stein shares memories of growing up in New York, moving to California to attend Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and Stanford Law School, and his successful legal, corporate, and investment career in Silicon Valley. He describes his involvement with the board of the Stanford University Hospital and his collaboration with Stanford President Gerhard Casper on the Medical Center Task Force. Stein recalls the circumstances that led to his appointment to the university’s Board of Trustees, the contexts surrounding the merger of the hospitals and clinics of UCSF and Stanford, and the factors that led to the merger’s unwinding and the dissolution of UCSF Stanford Health Care. Additional topics include the culture of governance of the Board of Trustees; Stanford’s presidential search process and his work on the committees that hired John Hennessy and Marc Tessier-Lavigne; the growth of interdisciplinary programs at Stanford; and the Stanford Challenge fundraising campaign. Stein also shares memories of university leaders and fellow trustees, anecdotes about his career and time at Stanford, and reflections on university leadership.
- Summary
- Stein’s family background and middle-class upbringing in New York • Decision to attend Colgate University • Overseas program at London School of Economics and meeting his future wife Maddy • Parents’ employment • Stein’s father, his upbringing and Eastern European background • Deciding on a career path • An influential teacher • Brother • Values Stein’s parents instilled in him growing up • Thoughts on the role of serendipity in life • Learning about Stanford University from a Stanford graduate student in London • Parents’ hesitation at an interfaith marriage • Deciding on business school at Stanford • Draft status during the Vietnam War • Moving to California with Maddy and his first Stanford job--changing lightbulbs in the Chemistry Building • Maddy’s job in the School of Education • Serving as managers in their apartment complex to earn extra money • Decision to pursue degrees in both business and law in Stanford’s joint JD-MBA program • Finance professor Alan Coleman and working at US Natural Resources while in graduate school • Favorite Business School courses • Memories of law professors Paul Brest and Tom Ehrlich • Decision to stay in California • Joining the law firm Heller, Ehrman, White, and McAuliffe • Corporate law work in Stein’s early career • Working with former Stanford trustee Richard Guggenheim to arrange a client’s donation to Stanford • Skills and lessons learned from early career • Story of how Lloyd Dinkelspiel Jr.’s sudden death led to an important connection to Bob Halperin • Appointment as CFO and General Counsel of Raychem • Moving back to Palo Alto • Senior leaders at Raychem--Bob Halperin and Paul Cook • Invitation to join the Stanford Hospital Board • Leaving Raychem • Introduction to technology through legal work for Spectra-Physics and Herb Dwight • Working with Alex Zaffaroni at ALZA and other life sciences companies • Micro Mask board • Reasons for leaving Raychem and founding Waverley Associates • Investments, including luxury hotels • Working on deals related to fashion company Esprit • Attempt at retirement • Continued involvement with boards • Memories of early years on the hospital board • Collaborating with Gerhard Casper on the Medical Center Task Force • Organization of Stanford Health Services • Restructuring the hospital board • Insurance models and Stanford Hospitals • Joining the Stanford University Board of Trustees • John Freidenrich • Recap of history of Stanford Health Services • Relationship between Board of Trustees and the Medical Center • Views on structures of other academic medical centers • Integration of Stanford’s Medical School with the wider university • UCSF- Stanford Hospital merger in the 1990s • Challenge of leadership turnover on the UCSF side • Early successes in realizing efficiencies and persistent challenges in sharing resources • Cultural differences between public and private institutions • Story of difference in handling Y2K computer issues • Other merger challenges: different payor mixes and resistance of municipal unions • Reflections on conception and execution of the merger; a business school case study • Decision to unwind the merger • Rebuilding post-merger and subsequent impacts • Views on governance, management, and power in complex academic institutions • Stanford’s Board of Trustees • Culture of the Board • Strategic role of the Board of Trustees • Collaborative working relationship between the Board and the University President • Responsibilities of the Board Chair • Board’s role in decision making and thoughts on executive committees • Process of hiring a university president • Leadership of Stanford’s presidents: Don Kennedy, Gerhard Casper, John L. Hennessy, Marc Tessier- Lavigne • Hiring of John L. Hennessy • Characteristics of a strong university president • Stanford’s handling of the 2008 financial crisis • General Use Permit (GUP) and working with Santa Clara County • Decision to serve a second Board term • Board selection process and reflections on how various kinds of diversity have strengthened the board • Story of Miriam Rivera • Appreciation for Stanford history • Retrospective on time as Board chair • Context surrounding Stanford in New York proposal • Constraints of General Use Permit; Stanford Redwood City campus; growth of Stanford • Appeal of New York as a place for a standalone campus • Concerns around establishing a campus in New York • Factors that led Stanford to walk away from the negotiations • Interdisciplinary programs at Stanford • Growth of interdisciplinary fields and appointments under Hennessy • Serving as co-chair of the Stanford Challenge • Fundraising in higher education • Founding of Bio-X and the story of a major gift from donor Jim Clark • The Hewlett Foundation gift in support of the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford • Chairing the Board’s presidential search committee in 2015 • Assembling a broad search committee from across the university • Secrecy surrounding search • Challenges facing the next university president and needed qualities • Selection of Marc Tessier-Lavigne • Pride in transfer of knowledge across generations of Board • Thoughts on Stanford’s future after the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential for growth following crisis • Administration’s response to COVID • Imagining the Stanford of the future • Developing a passion for Stanford’s history • Enrolling in Stanford’s Distinguished Careers Institute (DCI) • Reflecting on ties that bind the Stanford community; designing custom ties and tote bags for Stanford Board members and leaders
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Extent | 1 text file |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | May 12, 2020 - 2020-05-22 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Stein, Isaac | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Stein, Isaac | |
| Interviewer | Thomson, Jan | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Stanford University. Board of Trustees |
|---|---|
| Subject | Stanford Health Services (Calif.) |
| Subject | Universities and colleges > Administration |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Biographical Profile | Isaac Stein is the retired Founder and President of Waverley Associates, Inc. a private investment firm. He currently serves as a director of SRI International and as Chairman and a director of several privately held corporations. Mr. Stein served as a trustee of Stanford University from 1994 to 2016 and was the chair of the Stanford Presidential Search Committee in 2016. He previously served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Stanford University and was Chairman of both Stanford Health Services and UCSF/Stanford Health Care. In 2005, Mr. Stein received the Gold Spike Award for distinguished service to Stanford. |
|---|---|
| Audio |
|
| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/mr577zq6971 |
| Location | SC0932 |
| Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
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