I had occasion to go on Campus Drive at Stanford the other day, and get a glimpse of the emerging archipelego of buildings that will be the new campus of the Graduate School of Business.

I need to go by a couple more times to take it all in, but here are some initial impressions, drawing from my background with Stanford and Harvard Business School.

1. It is BIG. The GSB has been big as a school for many years, and I compare the existing to major buildings that house the current operation and wonder if they have been bursting at the seams for quite a while, or if this new complex provides capacity to achieve things that the school has been unable to pursue in the current environment.

2. It is BIG. The parcel of land on which this set of buildings are placed is limited, and it appears they are putting a great deal of "adobe and mortar" into a compact space. I contrast this with my experience as a Harvard Business School grad, where there are some open spaces and greenery. I don't really know what the contrast means, but it is there. And, BTW, places like Chicago and Wharton make the new GSB footprint look by contrast the wide open spaces.

3. I was a resident of nearby Escondido Village when my ex-wife was a Stanford Medical student. I am amazed how much has changed in this area of campus since I left it in 1991. The married student housing complex in which we lived has been greatly expanded, the new GSB cite was for a while fallow land while we lived on campus. It used to be a walk in the proverbial stroller. And there were WWII trailers where the Charles Schwab dormitories now are in place.

Stanford's GSB is very blessed that Mr. Knight of NIKE has made this new complex possible, as it is from Chas. Schwab for providing GSB student housing right across the street.

Maybe we in Palo Alto can connect these dots as it applies to plans for the Medical Center?