Innovation

Cal Alumnus Helps Students Gain Real-World Experience

William E. Brown chairman and CEO of Central Garden and Pet Co. in Walnut Creek, Calif., believes MBA students must be taught to innovate.

That’s why Brown has donated more than $500,000 to help fund the school’s Leading Through Innovation initiative, including such programs as Haas@Work, which teaches students to implement innovations first-hand.

“It’s just a pleasure to support Haas because the school is doing great things to really move the ball forward,” says Brown, who earned a BS

in industrial engineering from Berkeley in 1966. “And they are doing it in a unique way that goes beyond what other schools are doing.”

Haas@Work has sent students to companies like Cisco Systems, Disney, and Lam Research to help executives solve real business problems.

Arnab Basu, Stacey Fang, and Manoj Warrier, all MBA 09, brainstorm innovative ways to increase revenue and profit margins of Lam Research’s services division as part of a Haas@Work project.

“This was a chance to apply the knowledge we’ve gained,” says Prashant Jain, MBA 10, one of the students on the Lam Research team. ”We took on the challenge.”

$4.5 Million Creates Center for Technology, Innovation

The Haas School is creating a center focused on developing new management strategies andtechnologies to promote innovation and to help US firms maintain a competitive edge in the global marketplace.

The Garwood Center for the Management of Technology and Innovation is being created with a $4.5 million endowment from the late Ed Garwood, BS 31, and his wife, Elsie. In 1984, the Garwoods made their first gift of $54,000 to an annuity trust to support the center. Haas received the final donation of $4.2 million from the sale of Elsie Garwood’s estate after she passed away on Oct. 10, 2007.

“The Garwoods did not have children, and Eddie and Elsie came to the belief that they wanted the entire remainder of their estate to go toward supporting the faculty and student efforts Eddie saw us engaged in,” says David Teece, former director of the Haas School’s Institute of Management, Innovation, and Organization, which will house the Garwood Center. “Their gift aligns perfectly with the Haas School’s focus on innovation.”