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Obituaries

Charles Hornegren photoCharles T. Horngren, Management Accounting Pioneer: 1926-2011

Charles Horngren, credited with pioneering modern-day management accounting, was not only a well-loved member of the Stanford community, he was also regarded with the same admiration by his professional peers beyond the university.

Robert Carlson photoStanford Engineering Professor Robert C. Carlson dies at 72

Robert C. Carlson, a professor in the School of Engineering for more than four decades who also taught at the Graduate School of Business, died Sept. 6 in Palo Alto.

Gerald Meier photoDevelopment Economist Gerald M. Meier Remembered
A leading figure in the evolution of development economics who authored books on the subject well into his eighties, Gerald M. Meier, the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of International Economics and Policy Analysis, Emeritus, at the Graduate School of Business, died from complications of a malignant brain tumor at his home on the Stanford campus.

Bill Patterson Dies at Age 48

Philanthropist and investor William J. Patterson, MBA '89, died Friday, Oct. 1, at his home in Ross, Calif. The cause was a brain tumor, which he had suffered from since May 2009, according to Bill Oberndorf, his friend and colleague at the Mill Valley investment firm SPO Partners.

Patterson also lent his investment expertise to the Stanford Business School Trust and helped establish the school's Environmental Innovation Fund. As chairman of the California Academy of Sciences, he led the campaign to raise $500 million toward the academy's new, green building that opened in 2008.

photo of memorial statue Students Dedicate Remembrance to Classmates

A stainless steel structure commemorating three business school students killed in a 2008 car crash was dedicated on May 1. The inscription reads: "The Stanford Graduate School of Business Classes of 2009 and 2010 remember their friends, Viet Nguyen, '10; Christopher Sahm, '09; and Micah Springer, '10."

Business School Mourns the Death of Second-Year Student Roanak Desai

Roanak Desai, a member of the Stanford MBA class of 2010, died in a hospital in Maine April 3 after falling ill while on a trip to Africa and the Middle East. He was remembered fondly by classmates.

Memorial Service Set for James Porterfield

James T.S. Porterfield, a Stanford finance professor known for his humor and sharp wit as well as his grasp of markets and financial issues, died Feb. 28 in Stanford Medical Center of pneumonia.  He was 89 years old.

Conservation Champion Robert Augsburger Dies

Robert R. Augsburger’s  teaching career gave him a chance to share all he had learned about nonprofit management with thousands of MBA students “who are 'out there doing it.' “died on Dec. 31, 2009 at his home in Portola Valley. The cause of death was a brain tumor. He was 83. Profile of Augsburger class (From Stanford Business 1990)

Three Students Killed in Car Crash

Three MBA students from the Business School died Oct. 10 2008 when the car in which they were riding apparently careened down a cliff off Highway 1 near Big Sur, Calif. The three killed were Viet Nguyen, 28, of Raleigh, N.C.; Chris Sahm, 29, of Long Island, N.Y.; and Micah Springer, 23, of Columbus, Ohio.

Transportation Scholar Gayton Germane Remembered

Emeritus professor Gayton Germane, who in the 1950s founded one of the School’s first executive education programs and 30 years later pioneered an MBA course, The Commercial Development of Space, died January 17 of pneumonia. He was 88.

Philanthropist Claude Rosenberg Dies at 80

Claude Rosenberg, 80, MBA '52, died May 10. Rosenberg, along with his wife, Louise, formed a foundation that directed money to a variety of educational, artistic, social and environmental causes, including Stanford University and the Bay Area Jewish community. He was a generous supporter of of the Graduate School of Business, notably the Center for Social Innovation and The Library.

Patty Miller Loses Battle with Lung Cancer

Memorial services are scheduled May 7 for Patty J. Miller who co-founded a women's health clinic in Sunnyvale and became a wildlife conservation advocate. She was the wife of William F. Miller, Herbert Hoover Professor of Public and Private Management, emeritus, and a former provost of Stanford University.

Accounting Leader Robert Sprouse Dies at 85

Robert T. Sprouse, a Business School accounting faculty member from 1962-1973, and a member of the Accounting Hall of Fame, died on December 23.

Harold Leavitt, Pioneer in Organizational Behavior, Dies at 85

Harold J. Leavitt, a management professor who believed organizational success should be judged in human, not numerical terms, died Dec.8. The Walter Kenneth Kilpatrick Professor of Organizational Behavior and Psychology, emeritus, was a creator of the academic field of organizational behavior.

Economist John McMillan Dies: “He Could Make Economics Jump Off the Page”

John McMillan, the Jonathan B. Lovelace Professor of Economics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, died at his home on the Stanford campus March 13, of complications caused by cancer. He was 56. (March 2007)

Professor Emeritus Oscar Serbein Dies at 86

Oscar N. Serbein Jr., a faculty member at the Stanford Graduate School of Business who specialized in risk management and insurance, passed away Jan. 21 at his home in Fullerton, Calif. He was 86. (January 2006)

Alan Manne, Professor Emeritus of Operations Research, Dies After Fall

Alan S. Manne, an emeritus faculty member whose economic models were applied to to world energy issues and most recently to global warming, died Sept. 27 of complications from injuries sustained after falling from his horse. (September 2005)

Former Acting Dean Pete Pond Dies at Age 90

A man who managed virtually every non academic function of the Business School and served as acting dean in 1968-69, Pete Pond died at Stanford Hospital. (October 2004)

Former Presidential Economic Advisor Ezra Solomon Dies at 82

Ezra Solomon, who played a major role in the current approach to teaching finance and served as an economic advisor to President Nixon, died Dec. 9 at his Stanford University campus home. Faculty Colleague James Van Horn noted that Solomon "helped move the field toward a more rigorous theory-based foundation-a more mathematical expression." (December 2002)

Renowned Social Reformer John Gardner Dies at 89

John Gardner, who played a central role in the creation of Medicare and coined the term "independent sector" to capture the idea of the latent potential within America's nonprofit institutions, died Feb. 16 at age 89. (March 2002)

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