Touching Us All
Selection announced for inaugural Presidents' Award
Issue date: 10/15/01 Section: Features
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What is the Presidents’ Award?
When people are asked what makes the GSB so special - "people" is the answer most often cited. While we acknowledge this on mass, it is rare that we acknowledge individuals for their spectacular contributions to our lives here.
So many people at the GSB go the extra mile to make the GSB experience better. Whether it is the person who runs five clubs, the person who tutors you for Econ, the person who drives you to school, the person who helps schedule you a room for a meeting or the person who is just there when you need someone - it is a person who has impacted your experience here for the better.
In their honor we are starting the Presidents’ Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Stanford GSB. This award is for students, partners, faculty, and administration - anyone who has gone that little bit extra to make a difference. Every two weeks we will announce a new recipient of the award. Please take the time to congratulate them for their contributions and also to thank the other people you know who make a difference.
Why Michael Zinser:
It is with great pleasure that we announce Michael Zinser, MBA2, as the inaugural recipient of The Presidents’ Award. Among an enormous selection of deserving candidates, Mike, or Z, or “Best Friend” as he likes to be called, stood out for his ability to integrate and share his passions with his activities in the GSB community. In addition to his academic commitments, his list of activities include:
· SA Senator
· Australia Study Trip Leader
· Head of the Sports Committee
· President of the Card Club
· Co-President of the Sports Management Club
· Athletics Coordinator for IHAD
· Zinser Dinner Organizer
· At every FOAM, Monday Night Football and random sporting event in the Bay Area.
He is also one of the most organized people in the school, demonstrating how to balance extracurricular involvement with strong academic preparation.
To give another perspective we thought that we would highlight the words of IHAD co-leader, Arneek Multani, MBA2: “Zinser has been intimately involved with setting up a comprehensive physical fitness and activities program for the new crop of 60 first grade children that IHAD is taking on this year. The school we are working with (Costano Elementary School in EPA) doesn't even have a gym teacher or a gym program, so Z's input and thorough planning will form the basis for these kids' first introduction to physical fitness and team building. Our full-time teacher representative at the school was so impressed with the plan Z put together that she promised him a gold-plated whistle with his initials engraved on it to wear around his neck.
We are very excited and extremely lucky to have Zinser on our team. For my money, I'd put Zinser up against the greatest PE teachers and fitness instructors of all time: Jack LaLane, Richard Simmons, Tammi Lee Webb, Joe Weider, Arnold, Billy Banks and Ray Wilson. Z might not be in as great of shape as any of these guys but his love for sports and drive to make a difference in the lives of these children counts so much more than his lack of any real muscle definition.”
Regardless of his physical prowess, those who know him call him a true friend who is generous with his time and always willing to help a classmate. He applies his ability to organize and execute in the SA Senate and as the logistics guru for the Australia study trip. He takes his passion for sports and shares it with MBA students and first graders alike. His is a shining example of how to maximize the GSB experience, by focusing on one’s interests and in the process enriching others.
Please join us in congratulating Mike Zinser as the first recipient of the Presidents’ Award.
Please forward nominations to us for future Presidents’ Awards.