New Hewlett President Wants to Help Fix ‘Broken’ Parts of Democracy

New job: Larry Kramer, 53, will take over in September as president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Career path: Mr. Kramer taught at the law schools of the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, and New York University before joining Stanford Law School as its dean in 2004. He is a trustee of Equal Justice Works, a nonprofit that trains and supports lawyers who help disadvantaged people.

Education: He received a bachelor’s degree in religious studies and psychology from Brown University and a law degree from the University of Chicago.

Why he wanted the job: Mr. Kramer is a friend of Paul Brest, the foundation’s current president, who also served as the dean of Stanford Law School, until 1999. Mr. Kramer says he became a dean to make a broader impact than he could through scholarship alone. (“I thought I was an OK scholar but not one for the ages.”) Being a foundation president, he says, offers the chance to help many more people.

How he introduced himself to employees: He related the story of how his mother told him his old job at Stanford sounded “a lot more impressive” than his new position. Mr. Kramer says he told his mother to take a look at the Hewlett Foundation’s Web site to learn about its work. She called him back two hours later in tears, he says, because she was so proud.

On his agenda: He’ll look into what Hewlett might do to help improve the democratic process, perhaps through new grants for projects focusing on money and politics or the news media. That concern might also influence the foundation’s giving to environmental, education, and other causes, he says. “When the policy-making process is broken, we need to focus on that.”

On philanthropy: Mr. Kramer says he appreciates Hewlett’s emphasis on giving general operating support to nonprofits, on improving the effectiveness of philanthropy, and on supporting big new projects while also making smaller grants.

Salary: $600,000

What he’s reading: Everything about philanthropy he can get his hands on—as well as The Hunger Games, with his 11-year-old daughter.