John L. Hennessy
American computer scientist and former president of Stanford UniversityWikipedia
8
MENTIONS
6
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6
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Search complete. 8 mentions across 6 episodes found for "John L. Hennessy".
Sep 23, 2026
David MeltzerHOST
All my siblings went to the Ivy Leagues, and Stanford rejected me for undergrad and law school.
David MeltzerHOST
John Hennessy told me he'd think about giving me an honorary degree, but I couldn't handle the workload.
David MeltzerHOST
I think I was supposed to take offense to that, but I didn't.
David MeltzerHOST
But nonetheless, AI and Stanford... are two of my favorite topics.
Nate MeikleGUEST
It costs you basically nothing.
Nate MeikleGUEST
For years, she had John Hennessy, the president of Stanford, come speak to her small class.
Nate MeikleGUEST
And every year she would write John a thank you note for coming to class.
Nate MeikleGUEST
And then years later, John asked her to help run this fellowship program, which is the largest fellowship program in the world.
Nate MeikleGUEST
And she asked John about those notes.
Nate MeikleGUEST
And he's like, honestly, I probably would stop coming if you had to give me those notes, just writing a simple thank you note for me coming to teach class.
Nate MeikleGUEST
And now she ends up running the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program with John Hennessy.
Nate MeikleGUEST
Simple behaviors, showing gratitude, saying thanks.
Theo BakerGUEST
Um, uh, you know, but look, it's, it's obviously a tough bind.
Theo BakerGUEST
You know, as, as John Hennessy, the, the previous president of Stanford from 2000 to 2015-
Bryan WalshHOST
Mm
Theo BakerGUEST
... put it while I was interviewing him, he said, "You know, we live in this environment which, of course, we helped to create, and it's, it's very hard to separate that out." And I think that's true.
Richard OlcottGUEST
They have been an amazing client.
Richard OlcottGUEST
So that one, it came about as the initiative of John Hennessy, who was the previous president, who was president for, I don't know, 12 years, something like that, and To create, it's basically like their version of a Rhodes Scholar program.
Richard OlcottGUEST
And they teach, so they take, there are three cohorts of 100 students each.
Richard OlcottGUEST
They're graduate students.
Kurt GowdySOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
And he's stopped for a yard or a half yard loss.
Kurt GowdySOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Great charge there by John Hennessy.
Kurt GowdySOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Yes, sir.
Kurt GowdySOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
The short side defensive tackle.
Oz WoloshynHOST
Let's talk about what's next for, for you and, and your cohort.
Oz WoloshynHOST
You had an interesting conversation, I thought, in the book with, with John Hennessy, who was the Stanford president about 20 years ago, right?
Theo BakerGUEST
Between 2000 and 2015.
Oz WoloshynHOST
And he's now the chairman of the board of Alphabet, and he said to you, quote, "There are hundreds of students on our campus who think they're going to build the next great AI company.
Oz WoloshynHOST
... what will... what, what might happen if these things don't work out? Like what, what, what are the lessons being learned about suffering and perseverance and, you know, all those things, rewards?
Theo BakerGUEST
Yeah.
Theo BakerGUEST
Well, it's so interesting, right? 'Cause John Hennessy is incredibly responsible for cultivating this no boundaries relationship.
Theo BakerGUEST
He, he is responsible for making Stanford into, you know, the top fundraising school in the country.