Issue of
November 10, 1999

Bass appoints panel to seek 10th president

Robert M. Bass, chairman of the Board of Trustees, today announced the members of the search committee for the successor to university President Gerhard Casper. James R. Ukropina, a partner in the Los Angeles law firm O’Melveny & Myers and a vice chair of the Board of Trustees, will chair the 17-member committee.

Casper will step down as president on Aug. 31, 2000, after an eight-year tenure. He will remain on the university faculty.

"Stanford will start the next century in a position of unparalleled promise because of the educational programs instituted over the past several years, including Stanford Introductory Studies and the Graduate Fellowship Program," Bass said. "Gerhard Casper has been an outstanding president whose influence on Stanford has been profound. We believe the university is attractive for a decisive leader with the vision to set even higher expectations for excellence in teaching, learning and research."

Related Information:

• Faculty, students reflect on Casper's accomplishments: 9/22/99

Bass, who will be a member of the search committee, also named the other members -- six trustees, six faculty members, two students, one staff member and one alumnus. John Etchemendy, professor of philosophy, will serve as deputy chair of the committee.

The committee will begin work later this month, with a goal of making its recommendations to the Board of Trustees by the end of the academic year, or earlier if possible, Ukropina said. All segments of the Stanford community, as well as individuals in higher education and other fields nationwide, will be consulted and asked for nominations and advice, he said.

"This decision is perhaps the most important one that a university board of trustees can make," Ukropina said. "It is imperative that we hear from a broad cross-section of the Stanford community in order to make the most informed choice possible. At this point, the field is wide open."

Nominations, information and advice should be sent to the Presidential Search Committee, Attn: Donna Lawrence, P.O. Box 60190, Palo Alto, CA 94306-0190, or via e-mail to: search@ohpca.com.

Ukropina said that while the committee will do its best to maintain two-way communication with Stanford constituencies, it will not release the names of nominees, nor will members discuss the selection process while it is ongoing.

"Confidentiality is crucial," Ukropina said. "Without absolute confidentiality in the search and selection, it will be difficult to attract the best possible field of prospective candidates. The committee will make that a priority in order to achieve the best results for Stanford."

The trustees who are members of the search committee and their Stanford degrees are:

• Ukropina, of Los Angeles (A.B. '59, MBA '61);
  
  
• Bass, of Ft. Worth, Texas, president, Keystone Inc. (MBA '74);
  
  
• Roger A. Clay Jr. of New York City, vice president, Corporation for Supportive Housing (A.B. '66);
  
  
• Burton J. McMurtry of Menlo Park, Calif., general partner, Technology Venture Investors (M.S. '59, Ph.D. '62);
  
  
• Denise M. O'Leary of San Mateo, Calif., private investor (B.S. '79);
  
  
• Pamela A. Rymer of Pasadena, Calif., United States Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals (LL.B. '64);
  
  
• Isaac Stein of Palo Alto, Calif., president, Waverley Associates Inc. (MBA '72, J.D. '72).

The faculty members on the committee and their Stanford degrees are:

• Etchemendy (Ph.D. '82);
  
  
• Pamela Karlan, professor of law;
  
  
• Jeffrey Koseff, professor of civil and environmental engineering and senior associate dean for faculty affairs in the School of Engineering (M.S. '78, Ph.D '83);
  
  
• Sharon Long, professor of biological sciences;
  
  
• Lucy Shapiro, the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor in the departments of developmental biology and genetics;
  
  
• Claude Steele, the Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences in the department of psychology.

The alumnus member is:

• Warren Lyons (A.B. '67, MBA '72, J.D. '72) of Laguna Niguel, Calif., a consultant with Textron Inc.

The staff member is:

• Michael Hindery, senior associate dean for finance and administra tion at the Medical Center.

The student members are:

• Kristin Torres of Mexico City, a senior in international relations who is a member of the trustees' committee on development;
  
  
• Kaleb Michaud of Mt. Hope, Kansas, a doctoral student in physics.

Donna Lawrence, director of university corporate relations in the Office of Development, will serve as executive vice chair, and Alana Wilson, associate vice president in Human Resources, will be staff director for the committee. SR