After 25 years serving as president of the Stanford Alumni Association (SAA) and the university’s vice president for alumni affairs, Howard Wolf will retire at the end of this academic year.

During his tenure, Wolf and the SAA team – a staff he unabashedly calls “the absolute best in the business” – have led countless efforts that have advanced the organization’s mission to reach, serve, and engage Stanford alumni and students. They have launched and grown numerous programs and offerings that build lifelong emotional and intellectual connections, as well as goodwill and support, between the university and its over 240,000 alumni living in 151 countries.

These efforts include large-scale events like Reunion Homecoming, which brings together more than 9,000 alumni and guests to campus each year, as well as the recent launch of Open Minds, a multi-city tour that offers alumni a “campus away from campus” experience featuring university leadership, faculty discussion, and networking. The SAA also connects alumni through publications like STANFORD magazine, the Loop (a bi-weekly e-newsletter chronicling life at Stanford), and Stanford Where You Live (a newsletter highlighting Stanford programs and events in alumni’s local areas), as well as a robust digital community connecting alumni virtually around the world.

“Howard is a Stanford icon. He has been a bridge between the university and our alumni for 25 years,” said Stanford President Jonathan Levin. “He has shared their hopes and strengthened their bonds to Stanford and to each other. I’m deeply grateful for his service and for having had the opportunity to work with him over many years, and especially the last two as president.”

For Wolf, serving as SAA president has been both professionally rewarding and personally meaningful, keeping him connected to what he loves most about Stanford: people working together to make positive change in the world.

“It’s wonderful to work at a place like Stanford and see how we graduate young people who become leaders in their fields, just like the founders wished, and to witness the knowledge that is created at Stanford, and the new world this knowledge helps catalyze,” Wolf said. “It has kept me young, energetic, and excited. People say Stanford is the ultimate place of optimism, and it’s true. Stanford makes you believe in the future, and to be involved with that has been a blessing.”

A search committee co-chaired by Stanford Board of Trustees Chair Lily Sarafan and VP for University Relations Megan Pierson has been formed to begin the process of identifying Wolf’s successor.

A life changed by Stanford

Wolf’s Stanford story began nearly 50 years ago when he arrived on campus as an undergraduate in 1976.

Wolf was a first-generation college student, and his admission to Stanford felt like “a dream come true,” he recalled. During his freshman year, his father unexpectedly died, leaving his family without the financial means to continue paying his tuition. The university stepped in and covered his remaining three years with financial aid grants, an act Wolf would never forget.

“Stanford changed the entire trajectory of my life,” Wolf said.

“Arriving as a freshman, the aperture of my life’s camera was a pinhole. I was not very worldly or exposed to many things. By the time I left four years later, it had greatly expanded. Being a student at Stanford was a life-changing experience, and I work at Stanford, in part, to help make that same experience available for others.”

Wolf graduated from Stanford with an AB in psychology, with distinction, in 1980 and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1985.

During the 20 years following his graduation, he remained engaged with SAA as an alumni volunteer. In 2000, he was co-chairing his class’s 20th reunion when he learned from a SAA staff member that then-SAA President Bill Stone was retiring after 23 years of service. The staff member encouraged Wolf to apply for the position. “I thought if I could have some small influence on the trajectory of Stanford in the role, that would be a professional life well lived,” Wolf said.

Wolf was hired by then-Stanford President John L. Hennessy in 2001.

“We hired Howard to lead the alumni association because he best articulated a strategy for strengthening the intellectual and emotional bonds among the alumni and the university,” said Hennessy, who served as Stanford’s 10th president from 2000 to 2016. “Through reunions, alumni communications, and hundreds of outreach events, Howard and the alumni association have nourished a pride in – and commitment to – Stanford that has helped the university flourish over the past 25 years.”

A trusted liaison and leader

One of the things Wolf said he is most proud of is SAA’s ability to convene alumni.

“Howard’s superpower is connecting alumni to one another and to the university,” said Jennifer Chou, former chair of SAA’s Board of Directors. “He and his team have cultivated an army of committed and enthusiastic volunteers because his love and enjoyment of Stanford is inspiring and contagious.”

Wolf’s devotion to Stanford showed up in unexpected ways. Who else, Chou asked, carries in his wallet a color chip for Pantone 201 C, Stanford Cardinal, to check the accuracy of a color match?

Recently, SAA rolled out an online platform that brings alumni together through over 500 groups aligned with their profession, interests, or location. “One of the things that I’m proud of is our ability to convene. It’s hard to convene people these days, and the ability to do that – both in person and virtually – has been truly rewarding,” Wolf said.

As president of SAA, Wolf has served as a key liaison between alumni and university leadership. He worked to ensure alumni feel heard and understood, conveying their concerns to the president, provost, and other key stakeholders in Stanford’s administration, while also explaining university decisions to alumni.

“I tell people that a university is a four-legged stool made up of students, faculty, staff, and alumni,” Wolf said. “Alumni are permanent stakeholders in the life of the university. They care deeply about their alma mater. And they are there as stakeholders for the rest of their lives.”

Reflecting on his time in the role, Wolf said, “I think it’s the best job on campus. I get to meet the most amazing people in the world at one of the best institutions on the planet – it doesn’t get much better than that.”

As the search for Wolf’s successor begins, those interested in the role may email: search-inquiries@stanford.edu