University Leaders
Stanford University Presidents
Gerhard Casper, the president of Stanford University from 1992 to 2000, discusses his early life and education in wartime and postwar Germany; his time at the University of Chicago as professor, dean of the Law School, and provost; and initiatives and challenges during his Stanford presidency. Of special note are his reflections on the university’s recovery from the indirect costs controversy and budget deficit in the early 1990s, the origins and unfolding of the UCSF-Stanford hospital merger, and changes to undergraduate education during his tenure. Other topics include working with provosts Jerry Lieberman and Condoleezza Rice; the 1994 hunger strike by Chicana students; Corry v. Stanford University; university architecture; and integrating the Alumni Association into the university.
Donald Kennedy's five-part oral history covers his life, career, and reflections on his tenure as Stanford’s eighth president. Kennedy’s career spanned sixty years and included academia, government service at the federal level, and editorship of a prestigious scientific journal.
Stanford University Provosts
Condoleezza Rice joined the Stanford political science faculty in 1981. She served as provost of the university from 1993 to 1999. She served in George W. Bush’s administration as national security advisor and secretary of state. She has since returned to Stanford as a professor in the Graduate School of Business and the director of the Hoover Institution. Key topics discussed include the strong role her parents played in her life; her time in Washington DC under two presidents; her time as provost at Stanford; and her recent work.
Albert Hastorf, professor emeritus of psychology, former vice president and provost, and former dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, gives a lengthy account of his youth and upbringing. He discusses his first faculty appointment at Dartmouth and how he later came to Stanford. He speaks in great detail about his time working in administration at Stanford and provides insights into the changes at Stanford over his fifty year tenure.
In this five-part oral history, the former Stanford Vice President and Provost talks about his early life and education; his work at the Argonne National Laboratory; his recruitment to Stanford by Frederick Lewis Terman in 1965, and his extensive career at Stanford. Subjects covered include the formation of the Stanford Department of Computer Science, the computerization of the campus, the Office of Technology and Licensing, and SRI International. Miller also offers insights from his research into the birth and growth of Silicon Valley and reflections on the development of Stanford.
Topics covered include Terman's teaching and research career at Stanford University, the National Defense Research Committee, the Harvard Radio Research Laboratory, post-war research at Stanford, and the electronics industry, especially the Hewlett-Packard Company and its founders.
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