Michelle Landrey Cline, a longtime alumni volunteer leader and business executive, has been named president of the Stanford Alumni Association (SAA) and the university’s vice president for alumni affairs. Her tenure begins Aug. 31.
Landrey Cline, BA ’93, MBA ’98, takes on a key university role that shapes how Stanford serves and engages with its nearly 250,000 alumni, who form a global community of influence, innovation, and impact.
“Stanford has been such a gift in my life,” Landrey Cline said. “I feel grateful for this opportunity to be part of the journey of helping our alumni be connected to each other and to the university.”
Landrey Cline will report to President Jonathan Levin and work closely with the SAA Board of Directors, which provides strategic guidance on alumni programs and connects alumni to the university’s Board of Trustees. She will also be a key liaison between alumni and university leadership.
“Michelle has been a Stanford student, staff member, and longtime volunteer, and she will bring effective leadership, a deep commitment to the university, and unparalleled energy to the alumni role,” Levin said. “I look forward to her building relationships across campus and across the alumni community and ensuring that our alumni programs and engagement are at the highest level.”
Landrey Cline succeeds Howard Wolf, who retired after 25 years leading the SAA.
“I have known Michelle as both a Stanford staffer and volunteer leader extraordinaire for my entire tenure at Stanford, and am thrilled that she has been named my successor,” Wolf said. “Michelle is a wonderfully accomplished community builder and connector with tremendous business acumen. She will be superior in the role, and I am excited for the future of SAA, Stanford, and our alumni.”
Connecting across alumni communities
As a Stanford undergraduate and graduate alum, former SAA staff member, longtime business executive, and alumni volunteer leader for more than 30 years, Landrey Cline brings unique experience, extensive alumni relationships, and deep institutional knowledge to her new role. This combination, she said, gives her an “insider-outsider lens” that allows her to “hold the institutional thread of what matters most but also have the perspective to see things with clear eyes.”
Landrey Cline has served as chair of the Alumni Committee on Trustee Nominations, chair of the Graduate School of Business (GSB) Alumni Association Board, and chair of the Stanford Associates Board of Governors. She has also served as undergraduate and GSB Reunion leadership for development and engagement, as a member of the Stanford Athletic Board, as a member of LEAD (Lifelong Engagement and Advocacy for Development), and as an alumni interviewer for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and GSB Admissions.
She has received the Stanford Medal, the Governors’ Award, and the Award of Merit in recognition of her volunteer service to the university.
“When I look at the different roles that I’ve played volunteering at Stanford, every single one of them has underscored to me that the whole of our community is greater than the sum of its parts,” she said.
From 2001 to 2005, Landrey Cline worked for SAA as the co-director of regional outreach and director of special projects. In this role, she worked with a cross-functional team to support the Campaign for Undergraduate Education and helped ensure the success of the Think Again 10-city road show.
For 15 years, Landrey Cline was a senior executive at Business Talent Group, a marketplace for senior independent business contractors to connect with companies and organizations for project-based work. “What I love to do is connect people to opportunities and to other people that help expand the whole for everybody,” she said.
Previously, she worked as the netbatsu development officer for Softbank Venture Capital/Mobius Venture Capital, as a consultant for Boston Consulting Group, and as a senior business planner for Walt Disney Studios Planning and Finance.
As an undergraduate, Landrey Cline received the James W. Lyons Award for Service and served as president of the Stanford Student Alumni Network, resident assistant for an all-frosh dorm, a Kappa Kappa Gamma officer, a leader for Admit Weekend, and a campus tour guide, among other roles. At the GSB, she was co-president of the marketing club and an orientation leader.
“I don’t know if students walk in thinking this is a lifelong relationship, but truthfully my relationship with Stanford has been one of joy and connection over time that has fueled me in ways I never would have anticipated,” Landrey Cline said. “The people, the place, and the purpose have been transformative in my life.”
Shaping the future of alumni engagement
A committee co-chaired by Stanford Board of Trustees Chair Lily Sarafan and Vice President for University Affairs Megan Pierson conducted the search for Wolf’s successor.
This critical university role not only helps alumni remain connected to one another but also to Stanford’s mission, values, and global impact, Sarafan said. The committee sought a leader who could honor Stanford’s traditions while also shaping the future of alumni engagement for an increasingly global, multigenerational, and evolving alumni community.
“Michelle distinguished herself through a rare combination of deep Stanford knowledge, proven leadership, and genuine authenticity,” Sarafan said, noting her unique combination of Stanford experiences. “She understands the organization from multiple vantage points and brings an appreciation for both its history and its future.”
Landrey Cline also stood out for her energy, humility, intellectual curiosity, and “remarkable ability to make people feel seen, heard, and valued,” Sarafan said. “The committee was confident that Michelle possesses both the leadership capabilities and the personal qualities to strengthen lifelong connections among Stanford alumni while helping the Stanford Alumni Association continue to evolve and thrive.”
Stuart C. Burden, ’84, a member of the search committee, said Landrey Cline embodies the many qualities the committee prioritized in the new SAA president, starting with a “passion for all things Stanford” as well as agility, diplomacy, integrity, humor, patience, and more.
“Michelle fills her own energy tank from engaging other people,” Burden said. “To simply say she is a people-person would be a wild understatement. She is bringing a fantastic combination of grace, optimism, warmth, and depth, in addition to her leadership and consensus-building gifts.”
In her new role, Landrey Cline will lead a complex and high-impact organization that hosts large-scale events like Reunion Homecoming, which brings more than 9,000 alumni and guests to campus each year. SAA also recently launched Stanford Open Minds, a multicity tour that offers alumni a “campus away from campus” experience featuring university leadership, faculty discussions, and networking.
“At Stanford, there’s a palpable energy you feel on campus, and it weaves its way through the alumni community,” Landrey Cline said. “There’s this inherent optimism, a willingness to try and fail, a feeling of opportunity and intellectual curiosity, and a striving to make our communities better.”
The SAA also connects alumni through publications like STANFORD magazine, the Loop e-newsletter, and the Stanford Where You Live monthly e-newsletter.
Landry Cline said it’s important to meet alumni where they are. “Generations of alumni interact differently with each other and with the university at various life stages,” she said. “The SAA’s work is about being here to show people how they can connect to Stanford, in their own community, in a way they want to be met, and in a way that is meaningful to them.”
The Oregon native is a proud mother of three and has a great love of the outdoors. “Nature is my happy place,” she said. “Hiking, mountains, the ocean – that fills me up.”
She also serves on nonprofit boards at Trinity Episcopal School, the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy, and Helping Hand Home.
When Landrey Cline applied for admission to the GSB in 1996, she was asked to write an essay about how she saw her career developing; she wrote about how inspired she was by working at SAA during her senior year.
“I envisioned myself as a leader in this organization, and here I am 30 years later executing on that,” she said. “To have the opportunity now to do it, building upon Howard’s amazing work and under Jon and Jenny’s inspiring leadership, is truly a gift.”
Writer
Chelcey Adami
