Robert R. Augsburger, former vice president of business affairs and conservation champion, dies
Robert Augsburger, 83, also taught courses in nonprofit management at the Graduate School of Business and was active in the Stanford Historical Society.
Robert R. Augsburger began his longstanding relationship with Stanford in 1971.
Robert R. Augsburger, former vice president of business and finance at Stanford and the first executive director of the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), died on Dec. 31 at his home in Portola Valley. The cause of death was a brain tumor. He was 83.
"Bob was an extraordinary citizen around this place, not just for Stanford but also for the environment," said Bill Stone, president emeritus of the Stanford Alumni Association and former president of the Stanford Historical Society, in which Augsburger was active for many years.
A lawyer and businessman by training, Augsburger contributed private-sector strategic thinking and financial practices to the world of nonprofit management. Following his retirement from POST, he taught courses in nonprofit management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
"Bob used to say that one should re-pot oneself every five years. This he did quite successfully, enriching his own and other people's lives. He was unafraid to take a contrary view, did so frequently, and was usually proved to be right," recalled Rosemary McAndrews, former director of the Stanford Shopping Center, who worked in the university's real estate department from 1968 to 1992.
Born in 1926 and raised in Canton, Ohio, Augsburger graduated from Purdue University and Case Western Reserve University Law School. He began his career at the Glidden Company in Cleveland, where he was director of financial relations and manager of corporate pension funds.
He left Ohio to serve as vice president for the investment firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in New York, ultimately making it the first publicly traded investment firm in the United States.
In 1971, Augsburger began his longstanding relationship with Stanford as vice president of business and finance. These were tough years, wrote his daughter, Jane McLaughlin, who added that many students, faculty and others did not warm to her father's private-sector views. "He often cited the traffic light at the intersection of Junipero Serra and Alpine Road as his only accomplishment that generated no negative response."
Oversaw Stanford Shopping Center development
In his role as vice president, Augsburger had authority over management and development of Stanford's real estate holdings. In 1972 and 1973, he worked with McAndrews to overhaul the Stanford Shopping Center, already one of the largest sources of income for the university, transforming the old mall into one of the country's most upscale shopping destinations.
By then a resident of Portola Valley, Augsburger had fallen in love with neighboring open spaces, including the Dish area and Webb Ranch. His vision of land use was to condense development in quasi-urban centers so that open space could be preserved in the perimeters.
This passion led him to become POST's founding executive director in 1977. "Bob brought to POST a passion for conservation, a knowledge of his community, a deep network of friends and colleagues, and an entrepreneurial spirit, all of which set up the organization for long-term success," said Audrey Rust, who succeeded Augsburger as POST's executive director in 1987. "POST and I have benefited greatly from Bob's vision and 'get it done' attitude."
Augsburger also was an avid supporter of other nonprofit organizations in the Bay Area and beyond. He served as trustee of Hidden Villa, an educational organization in Los Altos Hills, and as president of the Children's Health Council board of directors. An opera and theater enthusiast, Augsburger also served as senior adviser for National Arts Stabilization, an arts management group that helps organizations build a strategic foundation on which creativity and innovation can flourish.
Augsburger's service as a lecturer in Stanford's Graduate School of Business, where he taught courses in nonprofit management until 1994, was a culmination of his career.
Legacy of education
"Bob's work at the GSB, following his tenure at POST, gave him a chance to share all he had learned about nonprofit management with thousands of students who are 'out there doing it.' What a grand legacy for a person who gave so much of himself to our community with devotion and twinkle in his eye. He will be missed, but his work lives on as a tribute to a life well lived. We should all be so lucky," wrote Christy Holloway, longtime POST board member and wife of Stanford GSB Professor Chuck Holloway.
Morgan Dudley, MBA '89, recalled, "While most of the courses at the GSB dealt with optimizing profits, Bob's classes operated on a deeper, human level: confronting ethical dilemmas, making difficult choices with limited resources and determining how to serve society and the common good. His ultimate lesson was that any one of us has the ability to contribute to society, to help others in need and to make the world a better place. In that way, he led by his own example. He was a great human being."
Augsburger was active with the Stanford Historical Society in a variety of capacities, including vice president from 1999 to 2002. At the time of his death he served on the membership development committee. His pet project was the history of the Stanford endowment fund, and he was collecting material on the important financial developments that have made education possible at Stanford. According to McLaughlin, he hoped to write a book on the subject. Augsburger also served on the advisory board of the Stanford GSB Oral History Program.
In addition to McLaughlin, of San Francisco, Augsburger is survived by his wife of 59 years, Jean Ann Augsburger, of Portola Valley; sons David, of Los Angeles, and John, of Portland, Ore.; and four grandchildren, Patrick and Ian McLaughlin, of San Francisco, and Carolyne and Sabina Augsburger, of Ashland, Ore.
Memorial services for Augsburger will be held at 4 p.m. Jan. 29 at Valley Presbyterian Church, 945 Portola Road, Portola Valley. No flowers, please. If you wish to make a donation in his memory, please extend your generosity to POST, Hidden Villa, or the Children's Health Council.
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