Interview with Thomas A. Tombrello - Caltech Oral Histories

Tombrello–223
He’s not dumb. OK. Then Jim [James P.] Lower, who had been the executor of the John
Robinson estate, calls me on the phone and says, “We’ve settled the Robinson estate. Are you
now just going to say goodbye and forget about me? I’ve had so much fun at Caltech.” I said,
“Jim, you called at the perfect moment. I’d be honored if you’d serve on my chair’s council.”
And he just also happens to be the general counsel for the Keck Foundation. I get hold of T. J.
and I say, “T. J., I’ve just talked to Jim Lower. He’s agreed to serve. Would you agree to
serve?” I’ve now got the Keck’s general counsel and a member of the Keck board. Do I ask T.
J. to solve my problem with the Keck board? Of course not. But T. J. and Jim want to solve my
problem with the Keck board. Of course they want to. I don’t have to ask them; they’re part of
the team. T. J. got it through, with Jim’s help, I’m sure, Jim being a clever strategist. Hey, to
quote my grandfather, “God never told you to be stupid, Tommy.” Put the right people on,
sometimes they give money; sometimes they give something that’s better than money. They
give you enthusiasm. They sell your program for you.
That was a nice little grant for Caltech, and very nice grants for Andrew Lange. I’m sure
it will still be well spent. I think Jonas Zmuidzinas is putting a lot of effort into keeping the
Lange projects going. See, it’s all part of this strategic vision. It isn’t the way Development
talks about it. “Go and ask the person for the money”—the ask. It’s bullshit! Wasn’t that way
with Mr. Cahill. Wasn’t that way with Walter Burke. Wasn’t that way with the Keck
Foundation. Wasn’t that way with Gordon Moore. It was, “Can I give you a vision for what I’m
trying to accomplish?” Through providing this understanding, we were able to get money for
Kip Thorne and Marc Kamionkowski. But there’s a certain piece to this that you can never
completely predict—we were not able to get money for Roger Blandford. God is fickle, and
donors are fickle. Somebody said, “What’s it like dealing with donors?” I said, “Well, it’s as if
you had a Sears Roebuck catalog and you’re taking somebody through it. You turn page after
page after page, and finally they look at something that you didn’t even want them to see and
they say, ‘You have that in pink? I might buy that.’ That’s what it’s like.” I said, “It’s not
frustrating, because after all, they want something. But they didn’t want some of the stuff you
wanted to sell them.” But they wanted so much of what I wanted to sell. I’m extremely grateful
to the people who were willing to accept the things I tried to make them part of.
Chameau does not like me to talk about a strategy, doesn’t believe in strategy. I have to
admit I didn’t win his heart when I said, “Jean-Lou, that is just a dysfunctional strategy, to have
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