Nicholas Demille | Oct. 18, 2011
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| Photo by Nick Demille |
| Google's David Krane, BAJ'94, spoke to classes and met with Krane Scholar Stephen Hicks while on campus Oct. 12. |
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Krane, BAJ’94, spoke to lecturer Dennis Elliott’s J321 Principles of Public Relations class before meeting with scholarship recipient Stephen Hicks, a senior in journalism who is the second winner of the Krane Scholars award, which alternates between a student in journalism and a student in the School of Informatics and Computing.
During his talk, Krane spoke about his West Coast childhood and his physics professor father.
“I grew up in a very scientific, a very technical household,” he said. “So what I wanted to do when I grew up was run as far and as fast as I could away from science and math.”
Originally, Krane came to IU to study music, but said he quickly sought other paths after his freshman year. One of those paths was to the door of Ernie Pyle Hall, where he met Director of Career Services Marcia Debnam, a person whom Krane claims was “instrumental” in helping guide not only his course of study but also his early career choices.
Krane headed west after graduating, where his background in journalism grounded him in his work in public relations for a number of high profile companies such as Qualcomm, Apple and, eventually, Google.
According to Google’s online profile of Krane, in his decade with the company, he has been nothing less than “the voice of Google” through numerous product launches as well as when the company began selling its stock to the public.
Students in Elliott’s class also wanted to know about Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder and tech visionary who died Oct. 5.
“Steve Jobs forever changed the way we interact with computers,” Krane said. “But every decision had to go through Steve. That worked for Apple, but it’s not the way we do things at Google. Ours is much more of a bottom up model where ideas are nurtured no matter where they start.”
Students were so interested in Krane’s anecdotes about Jobs that he spent nearly half of his hour-long talk fielding questions about the culture at Apple and its former CEO.
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| Photo by Nick Demille |
| Krane talked about applying his journalism skills to his work in communications for tech companies. He has been with Google for 10 years. |
“My students were captivated by his accounts of working with Steve Jobs at Apple but he also provided advice as they considered their own careers in public relations,” said Elliott. “He stressed that writing is the most important skill to continue developing and that the work is never done but instead it is a process. He also conveyed the importance of becoming involved with nonprofits and philanthropy outside of their work responsibilities.”
In previous visits to campus, Krane has credited his journalism training and time at Ernie Pyle Hall with his success in various communications positions. He visits frequently as a speaker at the school and as a member of the School of Informatics and Computing’s dean’s advisory board.
More:
- Meet Krane Scholar Stephen Hicks.
- Learn more about the Krane scholarship.
- Read about Krane's journalism experiences.
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