The Stanford Business Reporter

Please join us in a giving a huge thank you to Damon Vangelis, the latest Presidents Award winner. Damon, who taught us how to break the mold, improve on the past and forge forward with our ideas. He has impacted all of our experiences here immensely and often. Just some of his contributions have been:

Tireless work on the Reporter - and nothing short of rejuvenating it, with initiatives such as the Virtual reporter, as well as a much more exciting, engaging paper, plus some clever financial initiatives which go unnoticed by the casual reader (cost savings, advertising drive etc.). He must put in easily 20 hours on this per week!

Dedication to philanthropy - leader of the PMI, organizes multiple PMP related events

Active Academic Committee member

Leading role in last year’s Admit weekend organization

A regular at GSB events and FOAMs

Deep commitment to the GSB and its improvement - always full of ideas

When doing the due diligence behind the award we heard many great things about Damon that we would like to share. MBA2 Christian Lawrence finds it "hard to imagine anyone who does more for the GSB community than this week's award winner. Damon is someone who appears to have extra hours in the week allotted to him, such is the amount of activity he manages to cram in. He clearly feels a genuine affinity with the GSB, and in turn the school is deeply enriched by his presence. His tireless work as editor of The Reporter alone is worthy of note. He has given the paper a fresh appeal with multiple new sections and the path-breaking Virtual Reporter - and has in addition improved it as a business with intelligent cost-saving initiatives. Add to this his efforts as an active Academic Committee member, organizer of the student-faculty dinners, PMI leader and admit weekend coordinator and it is hard to imagine many students at the GSB whose lives he does not directly impact. We all owe a good dose of gratitude to Damon.

Somewhat less obvious to the broader community are a few more personal Vangelis characteristics. His fellow study group members report a fish-like attention span that manifests itself in his reaching for e-mail or his cell phone after around 45 minutes of each meeting. Equally making the full 18 holes at golf generally proves beyond him. He is clinically addicted to e-mail - Bryan McCann commented "we'd be fine for server space if it weren't for that Vangelis character and his damn e-mails". He has a film quote response to almost any situation. His dress sense regularly borders on the questionable - thankfully a situation recently addressed by his girlfriend who organized a number of extensive shopping trips. Finally, he brings something of New York to the roads of the Bay Area, with the impatience of a NY taxi cab driver and is never shy to honk his horn - even in the drive-in line at Jack-in-the-Box.

Brian Gladstein, MBA2, feels that Damon’s "constant energy and enthusiasm should serve as a model for future leaders. It is rare to find an individual of such responsibility and initiative, involved in so many aspects of the community, who at the same time always values his friendships, maintains a good sense of humor, and is just a great all-around guy."

Commented MBA2 Ciaran Power, "Damon is one of the behind the scenes characters who makes the GSB student body great. He is not one to want his name in lights, and yet makes an enormous contribution. If not frequently viewed he also has the best Grousbeck impression at the GSB."

Jake Moskowitz, MBA2, also likes the guy and believes that "Damon is a true leader because he has both the intelligence, the vision, the integrity, and the focus that I admire, while still maintaining the modesty, the warmth, and the genuineness that I like.

Constant practice is one of the traits that MBA2 Michael Strahs highlighted as a key to Damon’s success. "Damon ran his high school paper. Then he ran the paper at Williams. And now he runs The Reporter. No wonder The Reporter is so good right now -- practice makes perfect. Damon is truly remarkable. He does so much for the GSB community. I don't think most of our classmates have any idea how much time and effort he spends on their behalf. The Reporter and Academic Committee are only his most public means of service. What I think speaks volumes about his character is that he never even asks for a thank you."

Please join us in expressing our gratitude to Damon. Send him an e-mail, ask him for his Grousbeck impression or just click on the Virtual Reporter a few times to keep the advertisers happy – but do something for the person who does so much for us. Thank you, Damon!