OLAF RIBEIRO: The Ribeiros of Kenya, a dynasty
By Olaf Ribeiro
My grandfather Rosendo Ayres Ribeiro
MRCS. Born Goa Feb.
17, 1870. Died in Nairobi, Kenya, 1951. Interned in Cemetery in Nairobi.
Margarita Lourenco. Born June
10, 1881, in Goa. Married Rosendo Ribeiro in 1908 in Nairobi, Kenya. Known for
guitar playing. Died November 2, 1966. Interned in Cemetery in Nairobi next to
her husband.
Marguerite Lourence Ribeiro Dr Rosendo Ribeiro
2-7-1870 2-2-1951
For his services, my grandfather was conferred
an OBE by Britain in 1932 and the award of Commander Of The Order Of
Benemerencia from the Portuguese government in 1947.
He discovered a cure for Malaria that he sold
to the British in exchange for land. The British went on to profit handsomely
from this transaction.
My grandfather also discovered Bubonic Plaque
and a developed a cure for it.
My grandfather was also responsible for being
a founding member of the Dr. Ribeiro Goan school in Nairobi many of whose
alumni went on to become outstanding members of the community.
He died in 1951, aged 80. His remains are
interred at the City Park cemetery in Parklands, Nairobi.
Excerpts from
handwritten notes left by my grandfather and from the book “The Kenya Pioneers
by Errol Trebinski W.W. Norton & Co.
(1985). First American Edn. 1986).
Another take on DR Ribeiro:
Goacom Biography Series - By John J. D'Souza - Following the arrival of the railway in 1897, Nairobi had soon grown into a town with muddy streets and ramshackle wood and sheet-metal buildings built on stone plinths to ward off termites. …..Dr Rosendo Ayres Ribeiro appears on this scene in Nairobi, February 1900, as the first private medical doctor. For 6 months he and his assistant, Mr C. Pinto, shared a tent as home and practice. In the evenings by candlelight they made up prescriptions of his invention, including a special malarial cure which was patented and eventually sold to an international company. Later, when the Indian Bazaar expanded, he built his surgery from the packing cases used for shipping his drug supplies from England. It was Dr. Ribeiro who, in 1902, had diagnosed bubonic plague in two Somali patients and reported it. The Medical Officer of Health, with no experience of tropical diseases, panicked at the news, ordered the Indian Bazaar evacuated and burnt to the ground.
Dr. Ribeiro's surgery went up in flames with the rest. The government in recognition for his services gave him a concession of 16 acres of land in the township, part of which he was able to sell to Julios Campos, another Goan Pioneer. A street, Campos Ribeiro Avenue was named after them. In Nairobi the automobile was yet to come into its own then. Horses were still relied upon to get around town, but they suffered from an equine fever in the hot tropical climate, which reduced their life span considerably. It was felt that the thousands of zebras that populated the grasslands around Nairobi should be trained to replace horses. Two schools of thought emerged on this subject. The first were of the opinion that the animals were stupid and untrainable. The second took the side of the zebras. They concluded that the zebra species had already done enough for human kind ….. They gave aesthetic appeal to the many zoos over the world, made street crossings safe for children, and had their skins crafted into numerous home furnishings and wall hangings. There was no need for zebras to go further, and make asses of themselves!
An exception seems to have been made for Dr. Ribeiro. He managed to train a zebra, and ride him around town for house calls. As a founder member of the Goan Institute, he rode his zebra right up to the verandah of the club and hitched it to the front post. A photo of Dr. Ribeiro on his famous zebra is included in the 1950 Souvenir Brochure of Nairobi City to convince sceptics of this account! Dr. Ribeiro rendered sterling service to the community. He was known to personally attend to even the most minor ailments of his patients ….. Like removing a jigger from one's foot: a job which could easily be done by his assistants.
In the early thirties, when the community faced a problem in finding adequate schools for its children, he made his premises available for use as classrooms. He made a large donation to the institution which later became the "Dr. Ribeiro Goan School, Nairobi"…. In the time following WWII, when only a few in the community could afford cars, Dr. Ribeiro now quite aged, was chauffered around in the newest American limousine of the day. It was quite a sight to see him arrive with his wife for high mass at St. Francis Xavier Church. The limo drove up to the front steps of the church, the doors opened for the doctor, impeccably dressed in morning suit and his distinctive homburg hat, to emerge, accompanied by Mrs Ribeiro, wearing a fox fur stole. The parish priest and mass servers were at the church doors to greet him, and then only could the mass commence.
Dr. Ribeiro gave a sense of style to colonial life in Kenya. He is no doubt remembered even today when alumni of the school which once carried his name gather for reunions, or write down the school name on job applications.
Advertiser - 25/6/1909 - Advert - Try! Dr. Ribeiro's Anti Malarial Specific Pills - R. Ayres & Co., Chemists & Druggists, Nairobi
Nicholls - the hospitals were firmly racially segregated. This was difficult for Dr Rozendo Ayres Ribeiro, a Goan medical doctor resident in the EAP since 1899, who sometimes treated whites in his surgery and pharmacy in Victoria Street. His anti-malaria tablets, made to his own formula, were moreover much sought after by the settlers, though he was never accepted socially by them.
EAHB 1904 - Nairobi Residents, Merchants - Ribeiro, Dr. R. - Medical Practitioner, Victoria Street
Barnes - Nairobi City Park Cemetery - Dr Rosendo Ayres Ribeiro, died 2 Feb 1951 aged 80 AND Margarida Courenco [sic] Ribeiro, died 4 Nov 1966 aged 84
Gazette - 15/1/1906 - Member of Nairobi Township Committee - 1906 - R. Ribeiro
HBEA 1912 - Member of Nairobi Municipal Committee. Physician & surgeon arrived in BEA in May 1899. It is put to his credit that he discovered the first outbreak of bubonic plague in Nairobi in 1902
Bishop Altino Ribeiro
with Pope John XX111
At our house in Nairobi, with my Godfather Bishop Anthony and godmother Esther de Sousa Altino Ribeiro de Santana – this
name will live forever as part of history, not just of Goa, first as part of
the ‘Estado da India Portuguesa’ and then as part and parcel of the Indian
Union, but also of Angola and Mozambique, then Portuguese colonies and now
independent countries.
Below is a biography written by my cousin Teresa Colaço
Born in the village of Porvorim,
Socorro, Taluka of Bardez, Goa, on 19th October, 1915 to Dr. Graciano André
João Ribeiro de Santana and Rosa Maria Carmela Rodrigues Chicó, 8th in order of
filiation, Altino Ribeiro de Santana after his primary studies, decided to
dedicate his life to Christ, entering the Seminary at an early age. He was
ordained a Priest on 9th October, 1938 and after having served as Assistant
Parish Priest and Military Chaplain, earned the degree of Doctor in Theology
from the Gregorian University at Rome. He served in the capacity of Professor
at his Alma Mater – the Rachol Seminary and also as the first Rector of the
Minor Seminary at Saligão in Goa. At the young age of 39.7 he became the first
Priest from the Archdiocese of Goa to be appointed Bishop and was consecrated
as such on 23rd October, 1955 at the Sé Cathedral at Old Goa. Here I recall my
mother telling me that his proud mother who once upon a time when asked by
someone why he became a Priest and replied that you have to give the best to
God, was present on this joyous occasion. This showed her unselfish love and no
regrets.
Meanwhile on 27th July,
1955 Pope Paul VI (now Blessed) created the Diocese of Sá da Bandeira in
Angola. Most Reverend Bishop Altino Ribeiro de Santana was appointed its first
Bishop and served the people of his Diocese as a true missionary, faithfully
and tirelessly and was very much loved by them. Often during his pastoral
visits he drove his jeep to the remote areas of his Diocese to tend to those in
need and uplift them. He was at Sá da Bandeira from 9th January, 1956 to the
beginning of 1972 when he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Beira,
Mozambique, on 19th February, 1972. Here too he shepherded and served his new
flock in the same manner. He had arrived in Beira at the height of the crisis
of the ‘white’ Priests of Macuti case and this was where he lay down his life
on 27th February, 1973, barely a year since he had taken over. His life and his
work were cut short by the regime in power then for as Pastor having dutifully
defended 2 such ‘white’ Priests accused of crimes against the State security
and he died a real martyr for his Lord of a massive cardiac arrest days after a
bomb was used to frighten him outside his residence where the 2 Priests were
sheltered. His first heart attack had come during the course of a break in the
judicial hearings but after recovering he testified in the Court. After his
body was buried in Beira, later on the people of Sá da Bandeira asked that his
mortal remains be brought to their city where he had lived 16 long years
amongst them, enriching their lives. This was done on 4th April, 1974 and the
mortal remains placed in the Cathedral of Lubango (new name of Sá da Bandeira).
During his posting at Sá da Bandeira, Bishop Altino Ribeiro de Santana attended
the 2nd Council of the Vatican at Rome on 11th October, 1962, participating in
the deliberations held therein. The Municipal Council of Lubango (old Sá da
Bandeira) corroborated the request of its people and as a tribute to the memory
of their most loved Shepherd of happy memories, a City road was named after
him.
Bishop Altino Ribeiro de
Santana was an epitome of gentleness, simplicity, affable to a fault,
self-giving, loving, caring, humble, and courageous and above all a great human
being and humanist who gave his best, be it to the Church, his people or his
family. After having being abroad for a long span of time of about 14 years,
Bishop Altino returned to Goa – his motherland in 1970 to see and meet with his
siblings and their families. I remember we had a big family reunion at the
ancestral house at Porvorim and some of the memories are still vivid in my
mind. Alas, nobody could have guessed that this would have been his last visit
to the Goa and his family which he loved so dearly. Though we miss him greatly,
we have very dear memories of his work done etched in photographs as well as on
a big elephant tusk uniquely carved by the people of Angola which has been
donated by his family to the Museum of Christian Art at Old Goa and has been displayed
there for posterity.
A personal memoir by my brother Hubert:
Whatever men do is
always inevitably regarded from the worst side: faults make an incredible
impression, but beauties soon slip from our memory. It is different with Dom
Altino. We cannot remember his faults because they were not discernable even to
the most astute observer.
Now that he is dead what
dominate our memory are the beauty, the dignity, and the achievement of his
life.
Dom Altino was one of
Goa’s greatest sons, and few will be found to deny that greatness. I do not mean the public, pompous greatness
of the politician, for the politician out of office is too often seen to have
been an empty rhetorician; nor do I mean the tawdry and arrogant greatness of
the military general, for without an army he is a tin soldier, a tame hero. A
change of circumstances, and the character isolated is seen to be very
different from what had originally been supposed. I refer to Dom Altino’s
greatness as a human being, which remained unaltered no matter what the
circumstances.
Mgr. Padre Orlando Ribeiro de Santana
My uncle Orlando was the brother of Bishop
Altino. He was overshadowed most of his life by his brother Bishop Altino.
However, Rev. Orlando was quite accomplished during his lifetime. He was born
in the ancestral home of his parents in Porvorim, Goa.
He accompanied his brother Bishop Altino
Ribeiro to Sa da Bandeira, Angola and later to the Diocese of Beira,
Mozambique. After the death of his brother in Mozambique, he returned to Goa
and resumed some of his former work as Spiritual Director of the “Comitium” of
Legion of Mary and Director of the Apostleship of Prayer, parish priest of Lage
and also Professor in the Jau Seminary. Later, he was appointed Honorary
Professor of the seminar of our Lady at Saligao-Pilerne, lecturing on World
Literature, Economics, English and Portuguese.
Saligao Church: former rector Mgr. Orlando Ribeiro
Publications by Rev. Mgr. Orlando Ribeiro de
Santana
A Pastor writes to his people. Goa, 1988. 166
pages.
Pastoral Musings, Goa 1979. 55 pages.
A peep at the Angolan Literary Tradition and
Parnassus. 44pp. Goa.
Neto’s Poetry – a Rift and a Conquest.14 pp.
Goa
Henrique Ribeiro
My uncle Henrique, brother of Bishop Altino
and Rev. Orlando, was a star athlete in Bombay, India. He was the All-India
Badminton champion. He was also an All-India Track champion. I remember seeing
his trophies in the upstairs hall of our Porvorim home. There was a large
display cabinet holding his trophies, a large table holding smaller trophies
and the rest were placed on the floor. It was quite a sight to me. I always
held Henrique in awe. He later went on to teach English literature at the
University of Bombay.
Dr. Ayres L. Ribeiro.
Ayres Ribeiro was the son of my grandfather Rosendo
Ribeiro. He was educated at Cambridge University, England where he was also
known as a champion Chess Player while at Cambridge. His fair skin and English
accent made him look more English than Goan. I remember when he came back from
Britain and went on picnics with the family, he always wore his bowler hat, tie
and waistcoat while the rest of us were in safari outfits!
He used to
regale us with some of his patients' ailments at the dinner table on Sunday
afternoons much to my mother’s perturbation “ Ayres, the children are too young
to listen to this kind of stuff” she would say. He would continue and laugh at
his own jokes resulting in his ample belly rolling against the edge of the
table.
He practiced
medicine in Nairobi for several years before becoming the police pathologist. I
recall once being invited by him to watch a post mortem of an Indian woman who
had committed suicide by setting herself on fire. Although my uncle took it in stride cutting
open the body and sawing open the skull, I could barely stop from throwing up.
It was the one and only post mortem that I ever attended!
Before long,
my uncle became well-known as the police pathologist. One day he was asked to
testify in the murder trial of a well-known politician since he had done the
post-mortem of the victim. He was warned about his safety but insisted on
flying to the trial. The plane he was travelling in blew up on the way killing
my uncle and all aboard. It was a tragic end to a career he loved. It took me a
long time to recover from the news of his tragic death.
Graciano Gerry Ribeiro. MB, FFR, FRCR, Clinical Oncologist at the Consultant
Radiotherapy Unit (Christie hospital).
My older brother Gerry was born in Nairobi
Kenya. We spent an idyllic childhood playing marbles and other indoor games
such as tabalas and carom (two East Indian games). Gerry showed an aptitude for
the piano which is not surprising since our mother was such a good piano
player. Often after coming back from school, I would see my brother at the
grand piano in the living room practicing until Father Wargosy from the local
Catholic church came over to tutor him. I recall having to attend my brother’s
recitals at the local Conservatory of Music every few months.
After graduation from High School, my brother
studied in Dublin, Ireland where he obtained his medical degrees. He later took up a position at the Christie
Radium Hospital as a radiotherapist. He then went on to research the drug
Tamoxifen on patients with male breast cancer. His research hospital was the
first to do trials with Tamoxifen on female breast cancer in 1969 and published
the first research paper on this drug in 1971. My brother’s research on the
effect of Tamoxifen on male breast cancer publish in the British Medical
Journal was the only one of its kind to be published anywhere in the world.
Some of his research papers are given below:
1 .Adjuvant Tamoxifen For Operable Carcinoma Of The Breast: Report
Of Clinical Trial By The Christie Hospital And Holt Radium Institute (pp.
827-830)
2. Conservation of
the breast using two different radiotherapy techniques: Interim report of a
clinical trial. 3. G. G. Ribeiro, M.Harris 3, S.S.Banerjee3 Breast carcinoma
associated with pregnancy: a clinician's dilemma.
4. GG Ribeiro, MK
Palmer - British medical journal, 1977. Two methods for measurement of
Oestradiol-17B and Progesterone receptors in Human Breast Cancer and
correlation with response to treatment. D. M. Barnes, G.G. Ribeiro and L. G.
Skinner. European J. Cancer. Vol. 13, pp. 1133-1143, 1977.
Carcinoma of the male breast: a review of 200 cases. G.G. Ribeiro. Br.
J. Surgery Vol. 64 pp. 381-383. 1977
5. Breast carcinoma associated with pregnancy: a clinician’s dilemma. G.G. Ribeiro.& M.K. Palmer.
Brit. Med. J. 1524-1527. 1977
6. The clinical value
of multiple steroid receptor assays in breast cancer management
LG Skinner, DM Barnes, GG
Ribeiro - Cancer, 1980 - Wiley Online Library
7.Tamoxifen in the treatment of Male Breast Carcinoma. G. G.
Ribeiro. Clinical Radiology 34: 625-628.
1983.
8. A clinical assessment of loading dose Tamoxifen for advanced breast
carcinoma. G.G. Ribeiro & P.M. Wilkinson. Clinical Oncology Vol. 10:
363-367. 1984
9. Thirty-four year follow up of patients with breast cancer in
clinical trial of postoperative radiotherapy. M.K. Palmer, G.G. Ribeiro.
British Medical J. 291: 1088-91 (1985).
10. The Christie Hospital Tamoxifen (Nolvadex) Adjuvant Trial for
Operable Breast Carcinoma- 7 yr. results. G. Ribeiro & R. Swindell. Euro.
J. Cancer Clin. Oncol. Vol.21: 897-900. 1985.
11. Male breast carcinoma – A review of 301 case from the Christie Hospital
& Holt Radium Institute, Manchester. G. G. Ribeiro. Br. J.
Cancer51:115-119. 1985
12, Carcinoma of the breast associated with pregnancy. G. Ribeiro,
D.A. Jones & M. Jones. Br. J. of Surg. Vol 73:607-609. 1986.
13. Mortality Patterns over 34 years of Breast Cancer Patients in a
Clinical Trial of Post-operative Radiotherapy. Clinical Radiology 40:204-208.
1989
Olaf
Kenneth Ribeiro. Born in Nairobi, Kenya 9 January 1939.
Author of 3 textbooks and coauthor of another.
Publish over 50 scientific papers in refereed journals and author of numerous
articles.
Salute to a tree legend
History's Heroes Feb 2019 Speech for Olaf
I am so honored to be
here tonight to honor a very special islander. Dr Ribeiro has been active
in our community in meaningful ways that restore and protect our island's most
vital natural resources. In my opinion, Dr Ribeiro is a genuine example of
Bainbridge Island's 'old guard.' These engaged citizens, like Olaf, stand watch
as sentinels for our quality of life, and as advocates for systems-thinking
which is the gateway towards ecological health for all.
Dr Ribeiro was born in
East Kenya and had an international career in plant pathology before he arrived
on our island in August of 1981. His life-long passion as a plant pathologist
and horticulturist are highly valued among islanders and our city government as
well. Dr Ribeiro has been able to use his vast experience as a scientist,
steward and educator to inform and rescue many heritage trees on our island.
We oft regard Dr
Ribeiro as Bainbridge Island's real-life Lorax. In this wildly popular Dr Seuss
children's story, the passionate creature called The Lorax "speaks for the
trees." In all the years many of us have had the honor to know Dr. Ribeiro,
or as we call him, Olaf, he certainly embodies the spirit of giving voice to
the voiceless, much like the whiskered creature that rises from the stump to
question and halt an act of deforestation.
Here on Bainbridge
Island, we don't have any native Truffula trees, but we do have trees — and
lots of them! Environmental, educational and cultural organizations such as
IslandWood, the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum, and Sustainable Bainbridge
have for several years collaborated with Dr Ribeiro on many community
events. You might be familiar with Olaf’s wildly popular Historic Tree
Walks of Downtown Winslow, and I gather – a tree walks to Crystal Springs soon
too? Olaf was instrumental in organizing our island's first-ever Earth
Month Bainbridge Island, now an annual event, that serves as an umbrella for
much non-profit organization’s programs about Arbor Day and Earth Day.
Our island needs
advocates and a citizenry that is informed and engaged in the protection of our
natural resources. Dr Ribeiro walks his own talk every day as he collaborates
with groups and individuals to think about intentional growth, lobbies City
Hall for stronger protections for trees, plants saplings in our public parks,
and like a mad-scientist, mixes up microbe-mycelial cocktails to save heritage
trees in Downtown Winslow by healing their root systems. His generosity is
bar-none. He gives from his heart, he's tenacious, and most importantly he
loves Bainbridge Island.
Dr Ribeiro is
certainly one of History’s Heroes. I’m also proud he is my mentor and my
friend.
His expertise,
generosity of spirit and Humour inspire us every day.
Hubert Ribeiro
de Santana.
My younger
brother Hubert, born in Nairobi, Kenya and attended the Dr. Ribeiro Goan
School. He showed a talent for the arts from an early age. After graduation
from High School he travelled to Britain to study at Huddersfield College. He
later moved to Dublin, Ireland to study at Trinity College where he graduated
with a degree in English and Philosophy. He got to love Ireland and spend many
years there as a writer, before moving to Toronto, Canada, his final
destination.
Hubert
suffered from chronic lung problems due to his premature birth. He underwent
several painful operations in England and Ireland to help try and correct his
medical condition. However, none were successful and he had to battle his
condition until the time of his death.
During his
stay in Goa, India, he wrote articles for the local papers and got to be well-known throughout the community. He subsequently returned to Toronto, Canada
where he established himself as a well-known writer and painter. His
watercolour paintings have been used by UNICEF and Amnesty International. He
won several awards for his writing.
He published a book on poetry
titled El Pellegrino in 1971. (Noel Young Press, Santa Barbara, CA)
and another, Danby, Images of Sport -
(with original box & Portfolio of full colour prints)- with Ken Danby. He
was in the process of completing a novel at the time of his death.
Below is a
tribute to my brother Hubert.
From the
book THE RISE AND FALL OF PHILANTHROPY IN EAST AFRICA: THE ASIAN CONTRIBUTION
by Robert G. Gregor, and in particular the chapter on literature and the arts.
An exception
was the Goans, who, because of their Western orientation suffered
no religious restraints in their enjoyment of European arts
and literature. As early as 1908 there was a Goan Drama Club in Nairobi,
and in 1909 the Goan Union of Mombasa was presenting stage performances
to audiences as large as three hundred....
Despite lack
of recognition in the anthologies on East Africa, the Asians' most
successful poet in these years was probably Hubert Ribeiro. Unlike the others, he
wrote from the beginning as an expatriate in isolation.
He was born in 1942 into a
well-known Nairobi Goan family. His grandfather was Nairobi's first
medical doctor. After local schooling Ribeiro was sent to the Huddersfield College of
Technology in Yorkshire, where, inspired by a professor, he developed a keen
interest in the Irish poet William Butler Yeats.
He then enrolled in Trinity College,
Dublin, and concentrated on English literature and metaphysics, and took
up painting and photography as well as poetry. His plans for an academic
career were terminated by tuberculosis, and in 1971 after two operations
he returned to Goa to live splendidly but alone in the family's three-hundred-year-old home.
His first volume of poetry, El
Peregrino (The Wanderer), was rejected by an East Africa publisher as
not East African. "But I am East African," Ribeiro argued. "My
only commitment is to my art." Later he admitted, however, that all his sympathies were
Anglo-Irish. "I write for them, not the Africans."
The volume was soon published (1971)
in California and went through three editions.
By 1973 Ribeiro had written poems
for two other volumes to be issued under the same title. His work poignantly
reflects the mind of a dispossessed Asian who has not yet found
happiness in another society.
"I have a problem of
self-identity," he confided. "I don't fit anywhere!"
Susan Glover Ribeiro Sullivan:
(29/1/45-2/9/25)
Married to
Olaf Ribeiro 1969-1991.
A gifted
scientist whose work was published in prestigious scientific Journals. Later on she formed a company SUBRIDEN RNA
that supplied a key component to scientist’s worldwide working in DNA research.
The name SUBRIDEN was a contraction of the three company founders’ names
–Susan, Brian & Dennis.
Publications:
Reid, Brian, N. Susan Ribeiro, L.
McCollum, J.Abbate & R. Hurd. 1977. High-
Resolution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Determination of Transfer RNA Tertiary
Base pairs in Solution. 1. Species containing a small variable loop.
Biochemistry. Viol. 16. Pages 2086-2093
Reid, B.R., Ribeiro, N.S. Gould, G.,
Robillard, G.,Hilber, C.W., & Schulman. G. Proc. Natl. Acad. Science,
USA72,204-2051
Benight , A.Langowski, J. Ribeiro, Susan &
Schurr, J. M. D
Thomas, J. C., Schurr, J. M. Reid, B.,
Ribeiro, S. & Hare, D. Effect of Mg2+ on solution conformation of two
different transfer ribonucleic acids., Biochemistry 1984. 23: 5414-5420.
Konrad Ribeiro NovEMBER 3, 1974
My son Konrad
was born one cold winter’s day in Morgantown W.VA. He was a difficult child due
to his restless energy. Eventually we got him into swimming hoping it would
dissipate some of his boundless energy. He turned out to excel in swimming and
before long we were travelling with his swim club attending meetings around the
state. Before long he had a wall full of first-place finishes and trophies for
“Best Swimmer”. While in high school he broke several swim records. Meanwhile, he got into Water Polo and again excelled in this sport. It was a joy watching
him play.
We have never
had a close relationship ever since the day he yelled at me in the living room
“I Hate You Dad” when I objected about what he wanted to do with his future.
Konrad Ribeiro is Head of Sales
Excellence for Large Customer Sales at Google, based in their Playa Vista,
CA office. He is building a bespoke program for developing the practice,
coaching, and selling skills of nearly 3,000 managers and account executives
across the US. Prior to this role, he was Head of Industry in Media &
Entertainment. His team worked with major motion picture studios, TV networks,
and home entertainment clients to continually push the edge of how digital
media and data were used to find and delight entertainment consumers. As a
leader, he's passionate about the power of coaching, storytelling, and
mentoring early career talent. He's been at Google for over a decade. Prior to
the big G, he had stops in Brand Management at Activision and Disney, and short
stint in operations consulting. He regularly receives above average performance
ratings in the role of "husband" to a wonderful human being named
Jenn, "parent" to two phenomenal young people, Frankie (14) and
Sophie (9) and "guy who feeds me" to a 17-pound cat named Romeo.
1) How do
you define critical thinking?
Funny enough, despite my advocacy of
"critical thinking," I think the real practicable skill is problem
solving. Critical thinking is an orientation towards how we look at
problems. Problem solving is the means to the end. Having a repeatable,
reliable framework for approaching complex, multivariate problems with limited
or ambiguous information is the currency that delivers real value in the real
world.
2) What does
critical thinking look like in the professional world today?
With the mass adoption of cheap
computing power, all the "easy problems" related to finding patterns
in large data sets will be solved by machine learning. Of course, they aren't
"easy," so much as reliably addressed by the power of
ML. As my colleague, Google's Global Creative Director Ben Jones
says, machine learning is like having an army of a million interns. You can't
compete with that kind of brute processing power. Thus, the differentiator
for our future business leaders will be the ability to solve complex problems
that require creativity and non-linear thinking. At Google, we're always looking
for people who have a process for addressing the hard problems and can
consistently apply that process to crafting elegant, novel solutions,
particularly when there isn't a clear "right answer." All the
problems worth solving will require the ability to take the data one has...and
the data one doesn't...to come up with a defendable plan of action. Added bonus
if you can do it with velocity!
3) How do you
teach critical thinking?
I tell my students on Day 1:
Marketing is changing so fast that any particular "fact" that I might
teach will likely be outdated, irrelevant, or possibly wrong within a couple of
years. At work, we can scarcely use industry insights or product information
that's more than a year old. I can't imagine using a pitch deck from pre-covid.
The changes to consumer behaviour alone over the past 18 months mean we must put
a critical eye towards strategy. With that in mind, my focus is on time-tested
marketing frameworks and concepts that work no matter what else changes. Even
if there are radical shifts in consumer behaviour, technology, or regulation,
the fundamentals of successful marketing change relatively slowly, if at all.
So, I focus on drilling the process of solving marketing challenges. No
multiple-choice questions on tests! No fill-in-the-blanks! I want to see how a
student thinks through a problem with many possible solutions, how they put the
tools to use to tackle a particularly thorny marketing challenge. For me, the
beauty of marketing, particularly brand marketing, is the element of taking
what one does know, making reasonable assumptions about what one doesn't, or
can't, know and then crafting a defendable solution.
4) Why does
critical thinking matter?
Sooner
rather than later, computers will take most of the work that was previously
the province of early career professionals, such as rote analysis or
task-oriented work. We're seeing this now with automation in media. ML-driven
optimization is making media more efficient and effective than ever, but at the
cost of threatening the jobs of people who used to manually pull the levers and
twist the dials. With that in mind, the differentiator for our students will be
critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, lateral thinking, and
cross-functional teamwork. Computers aren't good at those things (yet!)
Critical thinking is the price of entry for future business professionals.
Weaving it into our teaching is imperative.
