James R. Doty
James R. Doty, M.D. is a Professor in the Neurosurgery Department at Stanford University School of Medicine and the Founder and Director of the Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism Research (CCARE) of which His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the founding benefactor. He is a Fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the International College of Surgeons. He served 9 years on active duty service in the U.S. Army.
Dr. Doty is an inventor and an entrepreneur, holding a number of patents on devices that are used on patients around the world. He maintains a broad neurosurgical interest and is one of the pioneers in the use of stereotactic radiosurgery utilizing the CyberKnife. He is an expert in the surgical treatment of benign and malignant tumors of the brain and spinal cord and has published extensively in the areas of spine and stereotactic radiosurgery.
For the last several years, his interest has focused on understanding the neural basis of compassion and altruism. He collaborates with a number of scientists in a variety of disciplines including neuroscience and psychology at Stanford and multiple universities throughout the world. He is the Senior Editor of the Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science.
As a philanthropist. Dr. Doty has supported health clinics throughout the world and groundbreaking neuroscience research. He has endowed chairs at multiple universities including Stanford and the chair for the Dean of Tulane Medical School, his alma mater.
He is the New York Times bestselling author of “Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart” which has now been translated into 36 languages.
3 words to describe Nature?
Awe. Joy. Inspiration
3 things Nature taught you?
Love
Hope
The ability for renewal
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Redwood forests
San Juan Islands
Hawaii
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Small
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Infinite possibilities
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Weak
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Hopeful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
How we must respect nature
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Scared
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Forest
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10/10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I had just learned to swim and my parents took the family to a lake surrounded by redwoods. I remember my hesitancy stepping into the water, how cold it felt and then I started to swim and I swam across the lake. I never felt more powerful or alive then in that moment.
John Coyle
John K. Coyle, #TheTimeGuy, is a world leading expert in innovation and Design Thinking, and best-selling author of Design For Strengths: Applying Design Thinking to Individual and Team Strengths (2018) and The Art of Really Living Manifesto (2016). A graduate of Stanford University’s Product Design Program, John is an NBC sports analyst, two-time TEDx presenter, and sought-after keynote speaker. He earned an Olympic silver medal for speedskating.
John is a thought leader in the field of chronoception—the study of how humans process time. He lectures and teaches innovation courses at Marquette University, Northwestern University and CEDIM University Graduate School in Mexico. His mission is to innovate the human experience.
3 words to describe Nature?
Wind. Sand. Water.
3 things Nature taught you?
The oxymoron that I am tiny in the grand scheme if things… yet I matter.
Color and light are a core source of joy.
I am never alone in nature - only in cities with people.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Sonoran sunsets
Yucatan cenotes
Utah snowfields
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Home. I was raised on a lake and on boats: the scent, reflections and ripples of wind and water return me to my youth and possibility.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
An adventure brewing. What is behind that copse? If I climb the ridge will I see the world?
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Like climbing to the caldera and looking into the mouth of the world…
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
That despite hedonic adaptation to almost everything (particularly money or success) a sunset NEVER gets old.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Fearless. As kids we used to run outside in lightening storms, pelted by the big drops waiting for that first big rush of wind and leaning into it with smiles.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
That I need to move. The wind is the devil: it hounds you, never lets you go, slows you, makes you hot, makes you cold, makes it impossible to relax and read. I need to get the hell out of Chicago… it is always windy.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
I am an Ocean/Desert person hence I am moving to the Baja peninsula in August!
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10. I am an “outdoor person”. As my parents used to say, “in or out!” I was always out. Pretty sure I never wore shoes or a shirt until I was 10 or 11 in summer.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I’ve now seen it a couple of times. Late summer / early fall, last hot day with warm rain in the evening spurs a “frog crossing”. Thousands of frogs and toads use the cover of darkness, the wetness and warmth to migrate (to where? a new home?) and like worms after a downpour, they are everywhere. One evening when I was maybe 8, there were 3 white owls swiveling their necks in my driveway eating frogs like they were in a french buffet…
Kent Thiry
Kent Thiry is chairman and CEO of DaVita, a FORTUNE 200 company with 75,000 teammates and approximately $14 billion in revenues. The company operates in 11 countries globally, delivering clinically differentiated health care to nearly 2 million patients.
DaVita has been the subject of leadership and culture case studies written by both Harvard and Stanford, and taught in many other schools and programs. Kent sits on the Harvard Business School’s advisory board and is regularly invited to speak on leadership and culture at top business schools, companies and not-for-profit leadership groups.
In 2016 he led Let Colorado Vote, a group that passed two ballot initiatives, one that re- established the presidential primary in Colorado and a second that opens Colorado’s primaries to unaffiliated voters. He is currently leading a redistricting reform initiative, Fair Maps Colorado, as well as a statewide Path to Shared Prosperity blueprint process with a group of CEOs from most of Colorado’s largest companies. He also co-founded The Aspen Group with Senators Bill Frist and Tom Daschle.
Prior to joining DaVita, Kent served in several senior executive roles, including chairman and CEO of Vivra Specialty Partners, a specialty health care company; president and then CEO of Vivra, a NYSE health care service company; and partner at Bain & Company. Prior board seats include the non- executive Chairmanship of Oxford Health Plans.
Kent earned his B.A. in political science, with distinction, from Stanford University, where he also was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, in 1978. He earned his M.B.A., with honors, from Harvard Business School in 1983, where he was also elected to the Century Club.
3 words to describe Nature?
Awesome. Complex. Essential
3 things Nature taught you?
The power of rejuvenation
The power of fresh air
How everything is connected
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Our family cottage in Wisconsin
Colorado rockies
Any place with a mountain bike trail that is far away from the road
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Small, in awe, & connected
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Peaceful, hopeful, & it creates in me a higher level of energy
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Respect, timelessness, a sense of faith, power that is beyond our realm and reach
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Fulfilled, calm, human
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Sense of anticipation, respect for the Universe, quiet
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Depends where I am and the clothes I am wearing. When backpacking I get a sense of excitement, that a challenge is coming. I need to know where safe ground is. It also reminds me the appreciation for the basics - being warm and dry.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Forest first, mountain second, ocean third.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Running through the forest in northern Wisconsin.