Two former Stanford trustees, Jeffrey S. Raikes, ’80, and Mindy Basham Rogers, ’84, MBA ’88, are this year’s recipients of the Gold Spike Award, Stanford’s highest annual honor for volunteer service. President Jonathan Levin conferred the awards on March 29 at a dinner held on campus.
The Gold Spike Award is presented by Stanford Associates, an honorary organization of Stanford alumni who have demonstrated significant and long-standing volunteer service to the university. The award is named for the gold spike that was the final link in the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, driven home by California Senator Leland Stanford in Promontory, Utah, in 1869. A century later, the university established the Gold Spike Award to honor volunteer leadership. Stanford Associates assumed responsibility for the award in 1973.
Jeff Raikes “is an extraordinary leader who has guided the university through significant challenges and opportunities as chair of the Board of Trustees,” Stanford Associates said in its announcement. “With deep, abiding dedication, he has served Stanford’s students, faculty, staff, and community through decades of pivotal volunteer roles and philanthropic leadership.”
Raikes began his decade-long tenure on the Stanford Board of Trustees in 2012. During this time, he served on the Presidential Search Committee that hired Marc Tessier-Lavigne in 2016, chaired the board’s Land and Buildings Committee, and served on several committees, including Globalization; Investment Responsibility; Finance; and Audit, Compliance and Risk. In 2017, Raikes became chair of the board.
His prolific university service has also included the Dean’s Circle and Strategic Council of the School of Engineering, the Stanford Challenge Leadership Council, the Think Again tour for the Campaign for Undergraduate Education (chair), and recently the Campaign Planning Task Force. A dedicated Stanford ambassador in Seattle, through the years, Raikes has shared his perspective as a former senior leader at Microsoft and chief executive officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Raikes and his wife, Tricia, have also demonstrated a deep commitment to creating opportunity through their transformative philanthropy, which has benefited countless students, initiatives, and university departments. Their gifts have supported the Graduate School of Education, Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, the Haas Center for Public Service, the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program, the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, and the Center on Food Security and the Environment. Raikes is also an invaluable advisor to causes such as Stanford’s new Institute for Advancing Just Societies.
Mindy Rogers is “a champion of health care, education, and athletics who leads with an unparalleled combination of generosity and dedication,” Stanford Associates noted in its announcement. “Throughout her remarkable career of service, she has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the university’s continued excellence and evolution.”
Rogers began volunteering for Stanford with her fifth reunion committee. She soon became a sought-after leader, holding some of the university’s most vital and impactful roles as a member of the Board of Trustees, the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Board, and the Stanford Health Care Board of Directors.
Rogers also has served on numerous committees, including Major Gifts Development; Audit, Compliance, and Risk; and Nominations and Governance (chair). As vice chair of the board, Rogers’ leadership was crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rogers has embraced a profound commitment to bettering child and maternal health. She has served as a member of the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Board since 2019, and she recently rejoined the board of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health after serving from 2013 to 2022, including a stint as vice chair.
An ardent believer in Stanford’s athletics excellence, Rogers was chair of the Board of Trustees’ Athletics Subcommittee, and she currently co-chairs the Development Committee as a member of the Athletics Affairs Committee. She also served on the Graduate School of Education’s Advisory Council for nearly a decade, and was a member of the Stanford New Schools Board, which launched the public charter high school East Palo Alto Academy (EPAAF). Rogers helped to establish the EPAAF Foundation and chaired its inaugural board.
Rogers’ service also includes the Haas Center National Advisory Board, the Humanities Task Force, the SIEPR Advisory Board, the Parents’ Advisory Board (which she co-chaired with husband Jesse, ’79), and the Stanford Challenge Leadership Council.
“Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies 8,180 acres, among the largest in the United States, and enrols over 17,000 students.”
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