Stephen Arod Shirreffs, Ph.D.

Bio

I am responsible for communications in the Office of the University Registrar, including web sites and new publishing technologies such as ExploreCourses and ExploreDegrees. These technologies comprise the online Stanford Bulletin, the official statement of courses and degrees for Stanford University, for which I have been responsible since the 2001-02 academic year. My job entails a deep commitment to new modes of communicating in the academic realm; the old rules cannot ever prevent us from pressing forward with the new tools.

I do a lot of presenting, including MC-ing a monthly meeting of more than 100 student services officers from across campus. Topics in other presentations range from Diffusion of Innovations to Data Flow in the Modern Course Catalog to ideas about the relationship of technical change to doing our jobs. My presentations are based on the notions that slides should be lively, ideas should spark conversations, and information flows best when it is open.

My involvement in the Stanford Technical Leadership Program (STLP) led to a deep and fascinating collaboration with many colleagues in the IT world at Stanford, including in the annual IT Unconference and in a Community of Practice collaboration group. Collaboration within and across business units and fields of practice is a passion for me, and these ideas are making a palpable change in technical development here at Stanford.

I have been involved in editing, printing, and publishing in all formats since the 1970s. Perhaps this explains my almost fanatical commitment to good English, high proofreading standards, and transparent and lucid prose. It most assuredly explains the sad look on my face when I get caught with a typo. I would be happy to proofread or copy-edit pretty much anything at pretty much any time.

This year I am again participating in the AIDS/LifeCycle, a charity bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 7 days in June. Click on the link to the right if you want to contribute! This will be my sixth ride; being alive and able to give back to my community in honoring those whom I have lost is a profound source of meaning in my life.

My personal interests include history, books, road cycling, aquaria and terraria, gardening, blogging, photography, endless free speculation, and, again, more road cycling.