Walter Hewlett : An Oral History
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Walter Hewlett, a Stanford trustee from 2003 to 2008 and an adjunct professor in the Stanford Department of Music, reflects on his life and his family’s long connection to Stanford. Hewlett, the son of Hewlett Packard founder Bill Hewlett, recalls growing up in Palo Alto, his undergraduate years at Harvard, and changing his course of study from operations research to music while a graduate student at Stanford. He explains how his interest in computers merged with his passion for music in the Center for Computer-Assisted Research in the Humanities. Hewlett shares memories of his involvement with both HP and the Hewlett Foundation, serving on the Humanities and Sciences Council and a path-breaking gift from the Hewlett Foundation to the School of Humanities and Sciences, and his service on the Harvard Board of Overseers and Stanford’s Board of Trustees.
- Summary
- Part 1 Hewlett family’s long association with Stanford • Albion Walter Hewlett’s time at Stanford Medical School during the 1910s • Father William Redington Hewlett’s background and World War II service • Hewlett Packard Company during the 1950s • Growing up in Palo Alto • Hewlett family’s relationship with the Packard family • Parents’ love of music • Decision to attend Harvard as an undergraduate • Distance running at Palo Alto High School under Coach Forrest Jamieson • Hewlett’s running career in high school and college • Harvard physics education • First job as a schoolteacher in Massachusetts • How a conversation between Fred Terman and Flora Hewlett brought him to Stanford for graduate school • Master’s program at Stanford in operations research • Living in the International House in Lagunita at Stanford • Organizing sight-reading music events at Lagunita • Meeting future wife, Esther • Switch from operations research to music • English courses at Stanford • Memories of Music 24 class with Herbert Nanney • Learning to play the organ and conduct • Opportunity to conduct Mendelssohn’s Elijah at Carnegie Hall • Reflections on Mendelssohn’s Elijah • Summer jobs at Hewlett Packard and HP Labs • Corresponding with and visiting Esther while she was in Hong Kong • Deepening relationship with Esther • Computers and music; origins of the Center for Computer-Assisted Research in the Humanities • David Woodley Packard’s Ibycus system to display Greek on computers • Modifying Ibycus for displaying music • Activities of the Center for Computer-Assisted Research in the Humanities • Challenges with typesetting and printing music scores on computers; story of reverse engineering an HP font cartridge to print music • Moving the Center to Stanford in the mid-1990s • Collaborations with Stanford’s Music Department • Teaching with Eleanor Selfridge-Field • Responsibilities as part of Harvard’s Board of Overseers • Harvard’s visiting process • Advisory council for Stanford’s dean of the School of Humanities & Sciences • Hewlett Foundation’s $400 million gift to H&S Part 2 Role of Stanford’s H&S council • History of the Hewlett Foundation • Roger Heyns and David Gardner’s leadership of the Foundation • Three stages of a foundation • Principles and values of William Hewlett • Role of foundations in society • Hewlett family’s role in the Foundation • Observations about failures of mergers, including Compaq-Digital Equipment and Hewlett Packard-Apollo Computer • Concerns and conflict over the HP-Compaq merger • Suing HP’s board of directors over opposition to merger • Spin-offs of HP • Spirit and culture of HP • Supporting Berkeley as well as Stanford • Joining Stanford’s Board of Trustees • Responsibilities of trustees at Stanford • Reflections on fundraising campaigns at Stanford and why it makes sense to donate to universities
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Extent | 1 text file |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | December 4, 2020 - 2020-12-10 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Hewlett, Walter B. | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Hewlett, Walter B. | |
| Interviewer | Brest, Iris | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Hewlett, Walter B. |
|---|---|
| Subject | Stanford University. Board of Trustees |
| Subject | Stanford University. Center for Computer Assisted Research in the Humanities |
| Subject | William & Flora Hewlett Foundation |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Biographical Profile | Walter Hewlett is the founder and director of the Center for Computer-Assisted Research in the Humanities at Stanford University, as well as an adjunct professor in the Music Department. The son of Hewlett Packard founder Bill Hewlett, he was a director of the Hewlett Packard Company from 1987 to 2002 and served as chairman of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. He has also served as a member of Stanford’s Humanities and Sciences Council, Stanford’s Board of Trustees, and Harvard’s Board of Overseers. Hewlett holds BA in physics from Harvard University; an MS in Engineering from Stanford University; an MS in Operations Research from Stanford University; and a DMA in Organ Performance Practice from Stanford University. |
|---|---|
| Audio |
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| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/qz840zb4774 |
| 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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