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Each year, the Arbuckle Award honors a Stanford Graduate School of
Business alumnus, alumni or individual closely associated with the school for
their lifelong achievement in the areas of management, leadership, and
community service.
Ladies and gentlemen, as is the tradition at the GSB,
each year the recipient of the Arbuckle Award is introduced by a person who has
a special connection to the honoree.
And tonight I'm pleased to welcome Mark Wolfson to do the honors.
Mark is perhaps unique at the GSB for the many roles he has played and
he continues to play in our community.
As a scholar and as a teacher in finance and accounting,
working with Myron Scholes and many others.
As a faculty member for almost 40 years, including time as a Senior Associate Dean.
As a representative of the school and the business community with his exceptional
career at Oakhill and now at his own from Jasper Ridge.
And as a trusted advisor the the GSB, to Stanford, and to many of us in this room.
A person of exceptional wisdom and perspective.
There may be no one who is as is fully embedded in each constituency
of the school, as is Mark, or as highly regarded in every quarter.
So please join me in giving Mark a warm welcome.
>> [APPLAUSE] >> I get the privilege of
basking a little bit in the glory of one of my favorite former students.
And just as we discover how much our children have to teach us.
So too do we experience the delight
of having our students return the favor of enlightenment.
So if my shirt appears just a little bit tighter tonight than usual.
Simply a reflection of how proud I am to introduce my dear friend John Donahoe.
>> When I look back, I realize that my Stanford experience set me off on a course
to develop both my head and my heart.
And my experience as a leader since then has been that the human dimension
is often what makes the difference between success and failure.
Rarely is it about simply getting the right answer.
But rather winning is most often driven by a willingness
to embrace the messiness of people and of teamwork.
My experience at Stanford challenged me to develop my whole life,
not just my work life.
It started with touchy feely,
my touchy feely professor Jerry Porras is right over there.
What GSB student hasn't been impacted by touchy feely?
It was here that I first learned the power of being open, honest, and vulnerable.
It was here that I learned that the best teams
are grounded in a deep level of mutual trust and respect.
And that you only get that when you embrace and
share your humanity with others.
And speaking of teamwork, I've been blessed to be part of some amazing teams.
At Bane, I had the very special experience of being part of a true partnership.
Where we shared a commitment to excellence for our clients, and
to supporting each other.
And at Ebay, I experienced the unshakable and
unspoken bonds of trust with Bob,
Beth, Allen, Mike, and Devon.
Because of you, I learned that there is nothing like being in the trenches
with someone and people you trust and respect.
I cherish the team we've built, and
will always be grateful for the unconditional support.
As I reflect on the legacy of our lives, I'm reminded of a quote from John Gardner.
I've carried a laminated copy of this quote in my wallet for the past 20 years,
and I pull it out frequently as a source of inspiration.
Gardner wrote, meaning is not something
you stumble across, like an answer to a riddle, or the prize in a treasure hunt.
Meaning is something you build into your own life.
You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties.
Out of the experience of human kind, as it is passed on to you.
You build it out of your own talents and understanding,
out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love.
Out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something.
The ingredients are all there, you are the only one that
can put them together into that unique pattern that will be your life.
And so, Stanford, thank you.
And my heartfelt thanks to all of you.
You have indeed given great meaning to my life, thank you.
>> [APPLAUSE] >> Thank you very much.
>> [INAUDIBLE]
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