They are not many, those who can talk about innovation as well as John Hennessy, President of Stanford University, start-up founder such as MIPS and Atheros, board member of Cisco and Google. He is also a world-renowned specialist in computer science.

In a recent column of the Stanford Magazine, “the DNA of Innovation”, he mentions the three ingredients that are central of a spirit of innovation:

– people, a diverse mix of talents and approaches

– an environment that promotes risk-taking and innovative thinking

– a university must be adept at transferring knowledge to organizations that have the ability to convert that knowledge into something with broader impact.

The full article is worth reading. I also scanned it in pdf format.