From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Official seal of Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, in Stanford, California, is a private university, and one of the most prestigious in the United States. It is located approximately 35 miles southeast of San Francisco, adjacent to the city of Palo Alto, California. The school is almost universally known by the shorter name Stanford University—the "Junior" part of the name is due to the university's establishment as a memorial to Leland Stanford Junior, and is unrelated to junior colleges (though jokes to that effect abound).
Stanford was founded by railroad magnate and California Governor Leland Stanford along with his wife, Jane Stanford, who created the University, and named it, in honor of their deceased teenage son. The University's founding grant was written on November 11, 1885 and accepted by the first Board of Trustees on November 14. The University officially opened on October 1, 1891 to 559 students. The school was established as a coeducational institution, although it maintained a cap on female enrollment for many years.
Stanford University owns over 8,000 acres (32 km2), making it one of the largest university complexes in the world. The main area in which the University operates is bounded by El Camino Real, Stanford Avenue, Junipero Serra Boulevard and Sand Hill Road, in the heart of the Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula. Besides the university, the Stanford trustees oversee Stanford Research Park, the Stanford Shopping Center, the Stanford University Museum of Art, Stanford University Medical Center and many associated medical facilities (including the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital), as well as many acres of undeveloped foothills. Locals and university affiliates often refer to the school as The Farm, a nod to the institution's origins as a horse farm.
The University enrolls approximately 6,500 undergraduates and 7,300 grad students. Stanford has a reputation among students as being a relaxed, fun-loving, warm-weather alternative to the Ivy League. The schools of the University include the School of Humanities and Sciences, School of Engineering, School of Earth Sciences, School of Education, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford Law School and the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Other prominent Stanford-affiliated institutions include the Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC) and the Stanford Research Institute, a now-independent institution which originated at the University. The Stanford University Libraries hold a collection of more than eight million volumes.
Stanford built its international reputation as a pioneering Silicon Valley institution through top programs in engineering and the sciences. Stanford has played an important role in the development of Silicon Valley, and birthed companies such Hewlett-Packard, Cisco Systems, Yahoo, Google and Sun Microsystems—indeed, "Sun" originally stood for "Stanford University Network." The university also offers world-class programs in the humanities, particularly creative writing, history, government, economics and psychology.
Campus landmarks include Memorial Church, Hoover Tower, the Rodin sculpture garden, Green Library and the Dish, not to mention to the Stanford Quad. The Quad and the original Moorish-Romanesque architecture are part of the campus plan contributed by H. H. Richardson, his successors, Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, and legendary architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Much of the first construction was destroyed by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake but the University retains the Quad, the old Chemistry Building and Encina Hall (reportedly the residence of John Steinbeck during his time at Stanford). After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake inflicted further damage the University implemented a billion-dollar capital improvement plan to retrofit and renovate older buildings for new, up-to-date uses. Many of the modern buildings were designed in the Spanish-colonial style common to California, with red tile roofs and white stucco exteriors, which gives the campus a uniform yet distinctly Calfornian look that many find aesthetically pleasing—the red tile roofs and bright blue skies common to the region are a famously complementary combination—but critics decry the campus complex as looking like "the world's largest Mexican restaurant."
Stanford University traditions include Full Moon on the Quad, the Halloween party at the Stanford family mausoleum, Flicks, steam-tunnelling, Primal Scream and Viennese Ball.
The official motto of Stanford University, "Die Luft der Freiheit weht," when loosely translated from the German, means "Let the winds of freedom blow."
The position of Provost was created in 1952 during the Presidency of J. E. Wallace Sterling. Many people consider the Stanford Provost to be the "heir apparent" to the President because of the five men who succeeded Sterling as President, three were Provost of Stanford (Lyman, Kennedy, and Hennessy), one was Provost of the University of Chicago (Casper), while the other was President of Rice University (Pitzer). The Provost is the University's chief academic and budget officer. The Provost and the President together conduct Stanford's relationships with the neighboring community and other schools and organizations.
Stanford participates in the NCAA's Division I-A and forms part of the Pac-10 athletic conference. It also has membership in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for indoor track (men and women), water polo (men and women), women's gymnastics, women's lacrosse, men's gymnastics, and men's volleyball. Stanford's traditional sports rival is Cal. The winner of the annual football "Big Game" between Cal and Stanford gains custody of the Axe. Formerly the Stanford Indians, that mascot came to be adjudged politically incorrect in the late 1970s. The Stanford sports teams are now officially the Stanford Cardinal (the color, not the bird), but the unofficial school mascot is "The Tree." Part of Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB), the tree symbol derives from the El Palo Alto pine tree on the Stanford and City of Palo Alto seals.
Stanford has won the Sears Cup the past nine years, honoring the first-ranked collegiate athletic program.
History and Culture of the University
University Presidents
University Provosts
Notable Stanford Alumni
Stanford Alumni in Space
Stanford Athletics
Stanford Alumni Athletes
External links
