The Dish Stanford people on the move and in the spotlight

Jennifer Aaker

Cassie Mogilner

Protocol and politics commonly determine the order of names on shared authorship of academic work. Stanford GSB marketing Professor JENNIFER AAKER, PhD ’95, and colleagues CASSIE MOGILNER, PhD ’09, who now is at the University of Pennsylvania, and Kathleen Vohs, who is at the University Minnesota, decided on a friendly game of chance to list authorship on a recent paper. “All three authors contributed equally; order was determined by two coin tosses over cocktails,” they note in their paper titled “Non-Profits Are Seen as Warm and For-Profits as Competent: Firm Stereotypes Matter,” forthcoming in the Journal of Consumer Research. And the result of those coin flips? The authors are listed in the order Aaker, Vohs and Mogilner. Let’s raise a glass to further friendly collaboration.
Forbes magazine recently raised a glass to Aaker, naming her one of “20 Inspiring Women to Follow on Twitter.” According to the Feb. 8 article, Aaker tweets about “social innovation, life as an academic and girl power.” Also named was KELLY MCGONIGAL, PhD ’04, a staff member at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. “She is a leader driven by compassion and pragmatism, and her tweets often discuss her interesting life as a vegan, animal-lover, yogi and scientist,” the article said.

-Heidi Beck

Sikic, right, receives the award from Croatian President Stjepan Mesic at a ceremony in Zagreb last month. Photo courtesy of Branimir Sikic

BRANIMIR SIKIC, professor of medicine in the Division of Oncology, has been awarded the Presidential Medal for Science and Medicine from Croatia’s President Stjepan Mesic. The award recognizes his achievements in cancer research and his contributions to medical education and cancer care and prevention in Croatia.
Sikic also is associate director of the Stanford Cancer Center and is a leading expert in the pharmacology of anticancer drugs. His lab studies mechanisms of drug resistance and predictive therapeutic biomarkers; his clinical research team develops new cancer therapies. Sikic, who called the award “unexpected and wonderful,” has strong ties to Croatia. His family emigrated from the country to the United States when he was 8 years old, and many family members still live and practice medicine there. (He counts 16 physicians in his extended family.) He received the award during a Jan. 19 ceremony in Zagreb. The full announcement is on the School of Medicine’s news website.

- Michelle Brandt, Stanford School of Medicine

Last year's cake

For some, “survival of the fittest” refers to the question of who will prevail in Sunday’s Super Bowl. But for others, the phrase will be part of the discussions taking place that very afternoon during the Darwin Day celebration on campus Sunday, Feb. 7, from 1 to 5:30 p.m. in the Geology Corner, Building 320, Room 105. Anthropology Professor WILLIAM DURHAM and ROBERT SIEGEL, associate professor (teaching) of microbiology and immunology, will serve as hosts and moderators for the event, which will feature short talks and “evolutionary birthday cake.”

Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Michael B. Oren, will address the Stanford community on the topic of “The U.S.-Israel Relationship Today: Historical and Personal Perspectives,” at 5:30 pm on Thursday, Feb. 11, at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies Bechtel Conference Center, Encina Hall, 616 Serra Street. The talk, sponsored by FSI’s Forum on Contemporary Europe and the Consulate General of Israel in San Francisco, is free and open to the community, but attendees must register online by February 7.

Jim Harbaugh

Head Coach JIM HARBAUGH announced Wednesday that 22 high school seniors have signed official letters of intent to play football at Stanford next fall.

The athletes attended high school in 12 states — California (4), Texas (4), Alabama (2), Arizona (2), Colorado (2) and Georgia (2), along with Indiana, Utah, New Jersey, Minnesota, Nevada and Virginia.

By position, the Cardinal added to its roster four linebackers, four offensive lineman, three defensive linemen, three defensive backs, three quarterbacks, two running backs, one tight end, one wide receiver and one kicker. Read their bios.

Staying true to its academic origins, Google has awarded grants to Stanford researchers who work in areas that also are of key interest to the search giant.

Two of the new Google Focused Research Awards have gone to Stanford scientists working in energy efficiency in computing and in online privacy.

Google, which attempts to reduce power consumption in the server farms that handle all those Internet searches, has awarded the efficiency grant to a group that includes CHRISTOS KOZYRAKIS, associate professor of electrical engineering and of computer science; MARK HOROWITZ, the Yahoo! Founders Professor in the School of Engineering; BENJAMIN LEE, postdoctoral scholar in electrical engineering; NICK MCKEOWN, associate professor of electrical engineering and of computer science; and MENDEL ROSENBLUM, associate professor of computer science and of electrical engineering.

RYAN CALO, a residential fellow at the Center for Internet and Society, has received a grant in the area of privacy.