James M. Patell : An Oral History
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- James Patell, the Herbert Hoover Professor of Public and Private Management Emeritus at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, speaks about his early life, his education, and his faculty career at Stanford, including the development of the Design for Extreme Affordability course (Extreme), the founding of the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies (Stanford Seed), and the beginning of the d.school. Patell describes his upbringing in upstate New York, particularly how working in his father’s tool and dye shop shaped his approach to problem solving and his ability to transform thought into action. He shares memories of his undergraduate and graduate education at MIT and Carnegie Mellon, as well as his early career work in ocean engineering and on the SPRUANCE destroyers. Recalling the circumstances that led him to join the faculty at the GSB in 1975, Patell shares memories of deans Ernie Arbuckle, Arjay Miller, and Bob Jaedicke, and describes his work with colleague Mark Wolfson. He speaks about his time as associate dean of the GSB, including his efforts to revitalize the Public Management Program and the core courses he developed in the Operations and Information Technology group after his deanship, including Business Process Design. Turning to Extreme, Patell describes the origins of the course, his approach to training students and working with project partners, and the processes that led to the creation of successful agricultural tools, medical devices, and other innovations that have impacted millions of people in developing countries. Patell concludes the interview with a description of the founding of the Stanford Seed program; a discussion of his retirement activities; and an appreciation for his teaching colleagues, his friends and family, and his rich and varied career.
- Summary
- Part 1 [00:00:00 – 00:26:43] Childhood in upstate New York and memories of his Ukrainian grandfather • Memories of living in a multiethnic neighborhood and reflections on heritage • Parents and education • Working in his father’s tool and die shop • Siblings • Meeting his wife Colleen in high school • Reflections on the impact of this early shop work on his career and on Extreme • Memories of courses and classrooms at MIT [00:26:44 – 00:58:34] Vietnam War-era and naval officers as instructors at MIT; working with Litton on SPRUANCE destroyers; a visit to a towing tank • Ocean Engineering Systems book with John Craven; thoughts on John Craven, Admiral Rickover, and the Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines • Learning finance and accounting in tandem with ocean engineering • Introductory finance with Bob Merton • Decision to pursue a PhD at Carnegie’s Graduate School of Industrial Administration • Dissertation advisors Bob Kaplan, Yuji Ijiri, and Stan Baiman • Memories of graduate school and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania [00:58:35 – 1:36:22] Joining the GSB faculty at Stanford • Teaching with Bob Jaedicke and Chuck Horngren • Colleague Mark Wolfson • Importance of core courses and senior faculty teaching them • Reflections on MBA students then and now • Prize-winning research on options with Mark Wolfson • GSB deans Arjay Miller and Ernie Arbuckle • Teaching executive education courses; an opportunity to teach business classes in Zimbabwe and an exposure to the developing world that would later shape Extreme and Seed • Description of Stanford GSB in the 1970s and 1980s Part 2 [00:00:00 – 00:24:42] Service as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the GSB from 1985 to 1991 • Revitalizing the Public Management Program; the Public Management Initiative and a trip to New Zealand • Arjay Miller • Dinner with Steve Jobs • GSB employee Sandy Lerner and Len Bosack developing the first router • Joining the Operations and Information Technology group after his deanship • Teaching core courses in operations and computer modeling • Extend software • Developing Business Process Design course • Teaching style [00:24:43 – 00:58:58] Meeting David Kelley • Beginning of the Design for Extreme Affordability course • Founding the d.school • Motivations informing the Design for Extreme Affordability course • Thoughts on project-based courses and working with outside partners • Logistics of working with partners • Role of engineering education and practical experience in course projects, including HandHero to aid burn patients and the Embrace incubator [00:58:59 – 01:38:54] Description of course outputs •Student projects for Project Healthy Children—making a dosifier to mix powdered nutrients into flour and a business plan for reducing product cost • Principles for making students more “creatively accident-prone” including the role of physical prototypes in the design process • Training students to ask for help • Extreme class projects, including the Monsoon Project and the Stanford Service Corps to teach rapid prototyping, teamwork, and talking to people about the tools they use • Impact of Extreme; project data • Successful class projects Miracle Feet and Noora Health [01:38:55 – 02:04:14] Beginnings of the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies (SEED) • Turning Extreme over to Stuart Coulson and Marlo Kohn • Retirement activities: working with veterans’ groups, Jasper Ridge Charitable Fund, and teaching a program for high school students in Ghana with his wife • Fly fishing • Children • Love of travel and meeting people • Praise for the Extreme teaching team • Friends around the world • Career reflections
Description
| Type of resource | sound recording-nonmusical, text |
|---|---|
| Extent | 2 audio files; 1 text file |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | February 26, 2022 - 2022-02-27 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Patell, James M. | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Patell, James M. | |
| Interviewer | Bent, Drew | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Stanford University. Graduate School of Business |
|---|---|
| Subject | Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (Stanford University) |
| Subject | Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies |
| Subject | Design for Extreme Affordability |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Biographical Profile | James M. Patell is the Herbert Hoover Professor of Public and Private Management, Emeritus at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Patell served as Stanford GSB’s associate dean for academic affairs from 1985 through 1991. During his deanship, he redesigned and revitalized the Public Management Program, which focuses on government, nonprofit organizations, and public service. Before entering the dean’s office, Patell’s research centered on empirical investigations of the effects of corporate disclosures on the stock and option markets, and he authored numerous articles in the field of accounting. More recently, he has conducted research and taught courses on product and service design, manufacturing, technology, and operations management.. Patell is one of the seven founding core faculty of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford. Within the d.School, Patell has co-taught Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability with David Beach. In this course, student teams collaboratively design product prototypes, distribution systems, and business plans for entrepreneurial ventures that address poverty in developing countries. In 2011, Patell and his colleague Stefanos Zenios launched a new project-based course on the Design of Medical Services. Patell also is a founding faculty director of the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies, also known as Stanford Seed, which launched its first Innovation Center in West Africa in 2013. |
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| Transcript |
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| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/sv416pf5637 |
| 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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