Jerry I. Porras, PhD, is Professor Emeritus at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and one of the most influential scholars in the fields of organizational development, planned change, and institutional vision. Since joining the Stanford faculty in 1972 and later serving as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, he has helped shape how leaders think about the creation of enduring, values-driven institutions. Named emeritus in 2001, Professor Porras has devoted his career to understanding how organizations evolve, innovate, and grow without losing the core purpose that gives them meaning. He continues his work in action creating new institutional programs and entities.

Dr. Porras first acquired a steady hand in the U.S. Army specializing in explosive ordnance disposal. Trained first in engineering and later in management and organizational behavior, he earned degrees from Texas Western College, Cornell University, and UCLA. That interdisciplinary foundation has given his work a distinctive blend of analytical rigor and human insight. Across a distinguished academic career, he has studied the cultural, structural, and leadership forces that enable organizations not simply to perform, but to endure.

Professor Porras is the author of Stream Analysis: A Powerful Way to Diagnose and Manage Organizational Change and coauthor of influential works including “Organization Development and Transformation,” “Dynamics of Planned Organizational Change,” “Organizational Vision and Visionary Organizations,” and the Harvard Business Review classic “Building Your Company’s Vision.” A clear and lasting theme runs through this body of work: the strongest institutions remain anchored in core values and purpose even as they adapt, renew, and respond to change. That insight holds particular resonance in academic medicine, where scientific progress, public trust, and human dignity must be held in careful balance.

He is best known to broader audiences as the coauthor, with Jim Collins, of “Built to Last,” the landmark book that emerged from a six-year Stanford research project examining exceptional, long-lived companies and the qualities that distinguish them. The book reshaped the conversation about leadership by emphasizing not charisma or short-term success, but the disciplined work of building organizations that can serve, renew themselves, and thrive across generations.

Professor Porras has also translated ideas into institution-building. He is a cofounder of the Latino Business Action Network, whose collaboration with Stanford Graduate School of Business gave rise to the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative, a national effort to research, strengthen, and expand Latino-owned businesses across the United States. At Stanford, awards bearing his name honor both leadership and service to the Chicanx/Latinx community, reflecting a career devoted not only to excellence, but to widening opportunity.

For Emundi Foundation, Professor Porras brings rare wisdom: a deep understanding of how lasting institutions are built where vision, values, culture, and service meet. His presence on the Board of Advisors reflects the Foundation’s commitment to building a medical school that is not only excellent, but enduring.

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