The Golden Touch of Stanford's President - WSJ.com

"Some academics complain that the magnitude of Mr. Hennessy's extracurricular financial gains, especially in the clubby world of Silicon Valley, could create tensions between his duty to the university and his outside business interests. Others, including the chairman of Stanford's board of trustees, strongly support Mr. Hennessy as a gifted president who has helped the university, especially with fund raising. Stanford says it has created institutional safeguards to address any conflicts."

"Mr. Hennessy, an engineer who co-founded a semiconductor company, has used his talents, Silicon Valley connections and academic position to help win billions of dollars for Stanford. He has done well for himself, too. Mr. Hennessy's November haul included a $75,000 retainer from Cisco Systems Inc., on whose board he sits, plus $133,000 in restricted Cisco stock, proceeds of $452,000 from selling stock in Atheros Communications Inc., where he is co-founder and chairman, and a $384,000 profit from the exercise of Google Inc. stock options. He sits on Google's board."