Stanford President John Hennessy Educating SBU Alumni on Broad Range of Topics

Moderator’s Comment: #

I would like to express my utmost gratitude to Professor Hennessy for our 1 hr 35 minute conversation on March 2, 2014, at the SBU Alumni Northern California meeting in Palo Alto, CA.  The Professor treated the audience to an enlightening seminar on many diverse and interesting topics that spanned education, technology and the value of liberal arts/ reading classic literature. Not only was his presentation crystal clear and very informative, but his relaxed style and down to earth discourse made it most enjoyable as well.    Alan J Weissberger – BS 1968 Math & Electrical Science {SUNY @ Stony Brook)

The individual videos for this outstanding event are posted at:

http://www.viodi.tv/category/history-2/john-hennessy-history-2/

while the entire presentation can be watched in the player, below:

Acknowledgement:  This author and moderator is indebted to Ken Pyle for his skillful videography of this event and his great effort in working with me to add titles and captions to each of the 25 video segments.

Quotes from the Professor and Audience: #

From Professor Hennessy:

My conversation on March 2nd with Dr Alan J. Weissberger  and an attentive audience of Stony Brook alumni was truly enjoyable. From the terrific introduction, to the insightful and well-prepared questions, we covered a wide variety of topics. The audience questions and discussion were equally enlightening. I hope my fellow alumni enjoyed the afternoon as much as I did!  Many thanks.
John L. Hennessy – PhD 1977 Computer Science& President -Stanford University

Hi Alan,
You did a great job moderating today and Professor Hennessy was very engaging. It could have gone all day and it would kept me interested. Some impressions:

1. Inspiring. First call on my way home was to my 15 year old son and encouraged to continue pursuing his dream of Stanford.
2. Education – very insightful regarding the role of online, flip education and MOOC.
3. Manufacturing. When he mentioned manufacturing coming back to the United States and it would have to go to lower cost places, I thought of places like Stockton and the Central Valley. Interestingly, Seems like there could be some interesting collaboration between Stanford, SJSU and the City of San Jose to make those sorts of things happen.

I look forward to listening to the interviews again as I edit the videos.

Ken Pyle, Viodi.TV

I too express my gratitude and thanks to Professor Hennessy for attending the SB University Alumni meeting on March 2nd in Palo Alto, and engaging in a truly enlightening conversation with Dr. Alan Weissberger.  Prof. Hennessy’s insightful commentary on current state of research and development, manufacturing, and online education was invaluable and made the event so special. Thanks to Alan and others for asking enlightening and stimulating questions, which showed the tremendous interest of all those who attended. Hope to see all in our next SBU Alumni next event.

Shashi Agarwal  – PhD Materials Science 1979

Alan—Thanks for a great event!!
Your detailed preparation for today’s interview made for a wonderful afternoon with Prof. Hennessy.  Really appreciate his perspectives on Stanford, Stony Brook and the value of higher education.  He was very generous with his time.

Best regards, Jean Bozman – BA 1973

The SBU alumni meeting on March 2nd was an outstanding event.  It was a privilege and honor to hear from such an esteemed professional (Prof Hennessy), who has a keen insight on so many important things going on in our world.  The event was exceptionally organized and kudos to Alan J. Weissberger, the moderator.  Very rarely do you get to see a moderator who can control the flow of the conversation, handle the crowd, and engage the speaker in a thought provoking discussion all at once.  After hearing Prof. Hennessy speak, my mind was recharged and once again excited about the possibilities of the future!

Byung Sa – BA 2011 History

The Northern California Alumni event on March 2nd was a resounding success for our local chapter. With the assistance of Janet Friello-Masini and Matthew Colson from Stony Brook Alumni Relations and the local chapter leadership of Shashi Agarwal and Alan Weissberger, the event was a memorable highlight in our short history of existence. The venue was top notch as was the luncheon menu. The real highlight of the day was the selection of Professor Hennessy as our keynote speaker. Want to thank Alan for all his work in securing the speaker and in organizing the interview style session with pertinent well thought out questions! Also, the Q and A with the audience illustrated the interest of all the attendees and the generosity of Professor Hennessy time and insight. The history of Silicon Valley and technology in our lives certainly was the topic of the day. But, the more rewarding part of the day was how well the organizers were able to have all of us engaged in the event. Thanks again for all your efforts!”

Alan “Coach” Koch – BA 1971  Secondary Education