I am honored that my colleagues at Marts & Lundy have asked me to serve as their chair of the board and partner with Don Fellows, President & CEO, a long-time friend and former colleague at Stanford, in leading the firm. A long line of distinguished individuals going back 85 years to the firm’s founder, Arnaud Marts, have filled this role, including my early counselor, Burr Gibson, and my predecessor, Bruce McClintock. Each has helped shape the firm’s values and its abiding commitment to its clients while contributing to best practices in the field of philanthropy. I intend to continue that record with the help of the wise and dedicated team at Marts & Lundy.

Philanthropy has grown and evolved dramatically over the nearly 40 years I have worked in this field. Its importance to society continues to expand as problems mount around the world, government funding contracts and other countries and cultures begin to embrace what was once a uniquely American enterprise. It is an exciting time to think more broadly about the challenges and opportunities facing our nation and the world and the role philanthropy can play in addressing those issues. It is a privilege to think about ways in which a firm such as Marts & Lundy can serve clients in the decades ahead.

My work in the not-for-profit world has been challenging and rewarding. I have spent most of my career at private, research universities — one in particular. The past four years I have devoted the majority of my time to helping environmental organizations, giving me a new perspective on governance, strategic planning, development and communications. With this new role at Marts & Lundy, I will have the opportunity to consider the field of philanthropy in the broadest fashion. That intellectual challenge, along with the talented people at Marts & Lundy and the rich history of this firm, drew me from my semi-retired state. I accept this role with great enthusiasm.

As my personal history indicates, I believe in the role and value of education, particularly higher education. Philanthropy has sustained our private schools, colleges and universities for several centuries. In recent times, more and more public institutions have turned to private funding sources as public funding stalled or decreased. Now governments at all levels face dramatic reductions in resources, creating a crisis for organizations across this country, including our public colleges and universities. As one who watched the dynamic relationship between the University of California and Stanford and the positive impact those two universities had on the development of their home state, I am saddened and worried to see the predicament the UC system, as well as the CSU system and community colleges in California, now face. Marts & Lundy serves a broad array of public, higher education institutions across this county, and I hope I can play a role in helping define new strategies for this critical sector.

One interesting trend I have watched develop over the past 20 years is the growing interest of more and more people to use their philanthropy to tackle some of the most complex, intractable problems facing people worldwide. Whether they do this by supporting organizations that provide services on the ground or encourage more traditional institutions to focus on solving problems, they are expanding the role of philanthropy in meeting social needs. This is an encouraging development in my view and one where best practices and new services will be needed to help secure the necessary philanthropic investments for success. This is the kind of philanthropic challenge that stimulates me and, I hope, brings out my best thinking.

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