Did you play much golf when you were in Washington, D.C.? I played whenever I could. I didn’t have many opportunities to play but my one reliable time to myself was Sunday afternoons so when I was home and weather permitting—and for me weather permitting meant it had to be 37° or above—I tried to go and play golf. •••
I know you were in the crowd during the U.S. Open this summer. What were your impressions of the championship at Pebble Beach? I think Pebble Beach is one of the most extraordinary courses in the world; it’s so beautiful and so difficult. I really enjoyed watching how much of a challenge that course threw up for those great golfers. •••
When you aren’t playing golf how much of a sports fan are you? Are you tun- ing into SportsCenter each night? I will
watch anything with a score at the end, I love sports. I’m a huge fan of the NFL and I’m very excited that the football season is underway. I love ice hockey and basketball; I just love sports in general. •••
How did growing up in Alabama during the Civil Rights struggle shape you? Well it shapes you very dramatically because I grew up in a place where you couldn’t have a hamburger at Woolworth’s lunch counter. But I had parents who were very devoted and I grew up in a nice middle-class neigh- borhood where even if you were denied going to a restaurant my parents had me convinced I could be President of the Unites States if I wanted to be. So there were limitations in Birmingham, but I grew up in a family and in a community where no one allowed you to see limitations.
Talk about what you are currently doing at Stanford and the Hoover Institute. I’m on the faculty at Stanford and I’m part-time at the Hoover Institute, which is a research institute, and I am part- time in the graduate school of business as a professor. So I’m writing a couple of books and I’m teaching and doing some speaking...I’m really back to being an academic which I love. ••• You’ve held several posts at Stanford. How deep is your connection to the uni- versity? My connection to the university is very deep. I’ve been at Stanford since I was just barely 26-years-old. I will have been at Stanford 30 years come next year. It’s where I really grew up professionally and I always come back here after what- ever experience I’ve had. I love it here. I bleed Cardinal red. •••
When you were provost at Stanford, the athletic department was under your guidance. How was managing a big-time athletic department? I really enjoyed it. It’s not easy to have a really terrific and first-class athletic program at a first-class academic institution like Stanford. But I always thought that Stanford had exactly the right values and was always very proud of the character and the accomplishments of the student athlete, so I very much enjoyed being involved with the athletic program. I’m still involved; I still help recruit because I enjoy seeing students who can both get into Stanford and play PAC-10 sports. •••
What is a typical day for you now? I have fewer days that are really typical. The thing is now there’s a lot of variety in my life which I like a lot. If it’s during the school year I start by exercising very early
48 / NCGA.ORG / FALL 2010
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