Top Down Innovation

Abstract

“Develop the product that nobody thought of”—that sounds like a clarion call for radical innovation. Is it also an appropriate mission for a non-profit school that was founded in the nineteenth century? When that school is Stanford University, John Hennessy’s emphasis on the business of innovation makes perfect sense. Stanford shares an elite academic ranking with its east coast Ivy League peers, but its geographic location next to Silicon Valley has imbued the campus—professors, students, and the top administration—with an entrepreneurial and innovative zeal that is as pronounced as it is unusual in higher education. In keeping with founder Leland Stanford’s exhortation to prepare students for personal success and direct usefulness in life, Stanford describes itself as a wellspring of innovation. Its web site proudly notes that in the last 70 years over 39,000 businesses owe their start to the inventions and entrepreneurial aspirations of its faculty, administrators and students.