William Daigneau, M.B.A. Interview Session One: October 3, 2013 About transcription and the transcript This interview had been transcribed according to oral history best practices to preserve the conversational quality of spoken language (rather than editing it to written standards). The interview subject has been given the opportunity to review the transcript and make changes: any substantial departures from the audio file are indicated with brackets [ ]. In addition, the Archives may have redacted portions of the transcript and audio file in compliance with HIPAA and/or interview subject requests. The views expressed in this interview are solely the perspective of the interview subject. They are not to be interpreted as the official view of any other individual or of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Chapter 0 Interview Identifier Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD 0:00:05.6 Okay. So we are recording now. I’m Tacey Ann Rosolowski. Today is October 3, 2013, and the time is about 9:14. I am interviewing William Daigneau for the Making Cancer History Voices Oral History Project. This project is run by the Historical Resources Center at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Bill Daigneau came to MD Anderson in 1994 as the Chief Facilities Officer and Vice President for Operations and Facilities Management. He held these positions during the institution’s most explosive period of growth. He retired in 2012. This interview is taking place in Mr. Daigneau’s home in Silverthorne, Colorado. This is our first session together, and we’re hoping to do everything in a marathon Interview Session: 1 Interview Date: October 3, 2013 today, but we’ll see. As I mentioned, today is October 3, and the time right now is about 9:15. Thank you very much for participating in this project. William Daigneau, MBA 0:01:12.7 Well, we’re glad to have you here. Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD 0:01:14.3 And for hosting me in your home, I very much appreciate that as well. It’s been a pleasure. Page 2 Interview Session: 1 Interview Date: October 3, 2013 Chapter 1 A: Educational Path Always a Builder Story Codes A: Character, Values, Beliefs, Talents A: Personal Background A: Professional Path A: Influences from People and Life Experiences C: Evolution of Career Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD 0:01:14.3+ So I just wanted to start with some general background. If you could please tell me where you were born and when. William Daigneau, MBA 0:01:28.8 I was born in Mansfield, Ohio in 1946. Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD 0:01:34.1 And your birth date? William Daigneau, MBA 0:01:35.1 It is June 1, 1946. Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD 0:01:38.4 In 1946. Did you grow up there as well? William Daigneau, MBA 0:01:42.7 No, my father worked for a large bearing distributer, and part of his job was to open new stores, primarily throughout Ohio. So for example, my middle sister was born in Dayton, Ohio, because he was opening a store there. He was in Mansfield when I was born. And then when I was about two years old, we moved to Cleveland. He stayed in Cleveland, so I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Page 3 Interview Session: 1 Interview Date: October 3, 2013 Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD 0:02:13.8 Okay. And did your mother work? William Daigneau, MBA 0:02:18.4 No, she worked at home and basically took care and raised us kids. Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD 0:02:26.2 How big is your family? William Daigneau, MBA 0:02:27.2 I have two sisters. One’s basically twelve years older than I am, and my middle sister—or the middle child of our family—she’s four years older than I am, so I was the baby. Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD 0:02:44.9 The baby of the family, right. Tell me, did your interest in the sciences and engineering begin real early? How did that happen? William Daigneau, MBA 0:02:54.9 Well, it’s interesting. When you do aptitude tests, I always scored high in mechanical skills. So my interests were always how things went together. Throughout school I did very well in math and all the sciences and struggled with English. I was always fascinated by history. So just as I grew up and evolved, as I got to the point where you’re starting to have to decide, well, where are you going to go to college and what are you going to major in, I gravitated toward engineering because it was how things basically went together, which kind of fueled my mechanical interests. Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD 0:03:47.6 Did you have hobbies when you were younger that sort of enhanced those skills? Page 4 Interview Session: 1 Interview Date: October 3, 2013 William Daigneau, MBA 0:03:51.8 Toy trains—basically, in the basement I’d build a train layout. I was always interested in that. I had an airplane—the old gas models where you had to spin the prop to get it started, and then you could fly the airplane. So I always had those kinds of toys—blocks, erector sets, all the toys that interested me in, as I said, how things worked and all that, so yeah, all those hobbies. I was a boy scout. I got the Eagle Award. That basically fueled my interest in the outdoors. I’m very comfortable outdoors. Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD 0:04:42.9 I should say that this home is actually your ski home. William Daigneau, MBA 0:04:46.5 Yes, it is. It was bought primarily because it sits equidistance from four major ski resorts. Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD 0:04:56.9 So tell me how you chose your college. You went to Case Western Reserve for your Bachelor of Science. William Daigneau, MBA 0:05:04.6 Yeah—I mean—I was a very good student in high school, so I was primarily looking for places that—because we were firmly middleclass growing up—I mean—comfortable, a modest home, but it wasn’t like I could just go wherever I wanted to. So I was looking for colleges that based on my grades and my SAT scores would offer me a scholarship. I applied to Stevens Institute in New Jersey, for example. My fallback was Ohio State. At the time, they had Fenn College, which was a co-op. And then at the time, it was Case Institute of Technology. That was prior to the merger with Western Reserve. Even though Western Reserve—if you know anything about that is— Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD 0:05:59.8 I don’t. Page 5 Interview Session: 1 Interview Date: October 3, 2013 William Daigneau, MBA 0:06:00.3 It’s in University Circle in Cleveland, Ohio, and at the time, Case Institute of Technology sat exactly right next to Western Reserve University. So eventually the two merged. They actually merged in the year I graduated. I was the last class who had a choice between a degree from Case Institute of Technology or the new university called Case Western Reserve. Since I’d spent three years at Case Institute, I got the Case Institute degree. I was the last class to get that degree. Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD 0:06:39.2 How did you—? As you look back, how do you evaluate your education at that phase? William Daigneau, MBA 0:06:47.2 My problem was things came so easy for me in high school, so I never really had to worry about homework. I mean, I’d buzz through my homework assignments, always tested well. Then I got to Case Institute of Technology—this is like playing college ball and then going to the NFL. All of a sudden you realize everybody sitting in the same room with you is smart or smarter than you are, and they’re all doing homework. And I didn’t really have that honed skill because I’d never had to do it. So my freshman year, I struggled a lot at Case Institute. I had to learn how to study because the coursework was much more elevated than high school. So I struggled in my freshman year. The closest I came—the first time in my life—to “failure,” and in my family—my father did not have a college degree. He wanted all his children to graduate from college. And failure was not an option. My father had passed away by then, but it’s deeply ingrained in your psyche by then that there are no C grades. You don’t bring home a report card with a C on it. That’s average. You’re not average. So that had been built into me by the time I got to Case Institute of Technology. So here, for the first time in my life, I could fail. So I had to double my efforts. I had to basically learn how to study because I didn’t know how to do it. Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD 0:08:36.4 It sounds like that was a lasting lesson for you. What shape did that take? What did that teach you in the long run? Page 6 Interview Session: 1 Interview Date: October 3, 2013 William Daigneau, MBA 0:08:43.1 Well, it teaches you—I mean—you can succeed.