Bolton Leaving Stanford GSB Admissions by: John A. Byrne on July 27, 2016 | 15,468 Views July 27, 2016 Copy Link Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email Share on LinkedIn Share on WhatsApp Share on Reddit Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business SALONER: ‘HIS MARK WILL BE FELT FOR DECADES’ In an email to the Stanford community, Dean Garth Saloner praised him for his service to the school. “Derrick’s mark on the GSB will be felt for decades,” says departing Dean Saloner. “With the privilege of being the most selective admissions director has come the responsibility of picking that fortunate one student in twenty to join the GSB community and receive what is now widely known as ‘the Derrick call.’ None of his admits will ever forget where they were and what they were doing when the call came.” Adds Kristin Harlan, director of global media relations at Stanford GSB: “He has brought wisdom, caring, and incredibly hard work to the role and we thank him for his years of dedicated service to the GSB. Among his many accomplishments, he saved countless forests by moving the paper-based application process entirely online, and introduced a system in which every applicant who is eventually admitted has been interviewed.” In his new role, Bolton takes over Stanford University’s biggest new educational innovation, a graduate-level leadership program that will span seven of the university’s graduate schools. The program, which will annually admit 100 fully funded scholars once they graduate with their undergraduate degrees, is meant to prepare a new generation of global leaders. Stanford will begin accepting applications from prospective scholars — students who have completed at least three years of undergraduate education — in the summer of 2017 and admit its first scholars in the fall of 2018. WILL NOW BE THE GATEKEEPER TO THE UNIVERSITY’S NEW BOLD LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE The program will recruit undergraduate students from all over the world, allowing them to enroll in Stanford’s schools of law, business, medicine, engineering, humanities and sciences, education, and earth, energy, and environmental sciences. The school said that scholars pursuing Ph.D. or MD degrees will have the option to receive funding beyond three years. The scholars will take courses in design thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurship and also be exposed to leadership training and development, residential experiences, immersive educational opportunities, additional degree opportunities focused on public policy, and problem-solving at scale. A social startup fund is being created to seed nonprofit startups launched by program alumni. With Bolton at the helm, the program is destined for success. “He’s terrific. It’s an awesome opportunity for Derrick and we’re really sorry to lose him,” Kayden adds. “It’s going to be a huge hole for us to fill.” DON’T MISS: THE MBA GATEKEEPER TO STANFORD’S GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Previous PagePage 2 of 2 1 2 © Copyright 2026 Poets & Quants. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Poets & Quants, please submit your request HERE.