Graduate School of Business students shatter gift record with $300,000 pledge

BY HELEN CHANG

In a ceremony Saturday at Frost Amphitheater, 413 candidates for graduate and doctoral degrees from the Stanford Graduate School of Business accepted the congratulatory handshake of Dean Robert L. Joss in the school's 77th commencement. This year's graduating MBA Class of 2002 received special recognition for its collective record-breaking gift to the Business School.

The diploma ceremony honored the 440 people awarded degrees this academic year: 374 received MBAs, six of them joint JD degrees from Stanford's School of Law; nine received doctorates; nine received the degree of Master of Arts in Business Research, which recognizes the accomplishments of students who enter but do not complete the doctoral program, yet complete work equivalent to a master's degree; and 48 graduates of the Stanford Sloan Program received the Master of Science in Management degree.

"This year's class is extraordinary for several reasons," said Dan Rudolph, senior associate dean, noting that a record 88 percent of the Class of 2002 participated in the gift, and that the $300,000 pledged "shattered the old dollar record by more than $130,000."

The gift was made during a very difficult economic environment. "And the old model of picking a very specific building project has been replaced this year by a much more general grant to fund several student fellowships and expand the second-year seminars," he said.

Of the MBA graduates, 38 learned that they had achieved distinction as Arjay Miller Scholars. Named in honor of the fourth dean of the Business School who was on hand personally to congratulate them, Arjay Miller Scholars are ranked in the top 10 percent of their class by academic performance.

At the top of the class, Robert Scott Berg was named the Henry Ford II Scholar and presented with a check for $15,000. Judged by classmates as having contributed most to the fulfillment of the goals of the Business School in his active participation, initiative, leadership and personal integrity, Damon A. Vangelis received the Ernest C. Arbuckle Award.

"You came to us with enormous talents and experiences; you leave enriched in experiences and in knowledge," said David Kreps, senior associate dean for academic affairs. "But this is not goodbye. We hope and expect that you will remain a member of our community, now with the new title of alumnus, but engaged in the same basic activity of growing personally and intellectually, giving to the community as you take from it."