Stanford University

Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University
MottoDie Luft der Freiheit weht (German)[1]
Motto in English
"The wind of freedom blows"[1]
TypePrivate research university
EstablishedOctober 1, 1891 (October 1, 1891)[2][3]
FounderLeland and Jane Stanford
AccreditationWSCUC
Academic affiliations
Endowment$36.5 billion (2023)[4]
Budget$8.9 billion (2023–24)[5]
PresidentRichard Saller (interim)
ProvostJenny Martinez
Academic staff
2,323 (Fall 2023)[6]
Administrative staff
18,369 (Fall 2023)[7]
Students17,529 (Fall 2023)[6]
Undergraduates7,841 (Fall 2023)[6]
Postgraduates9,688 (Fall 2023)[6]
Location, ,
United States 37°25′39″N 122°10′12″W / 37.42750°N 122.17000°W / 37.42750; -122.17000
CampusLarge suburb:[8] 8,180-acre (3,310-hectare)[6]
Other campuses
NewspaperThe Stanford Daily
ColorsRed & White[9]    
NicknameCardinal
Sporting affiliations
MascotStanford Tree (unofficial)[10]
Websitewww.stanford.edu Edit this at Wikidata

Stanford University (officially Leland Stanford Junior University)[11][12] is a private research university in Stanford, California. It was founded in 1885 by Leland Stanford—a railroad magnate who served as the eighth governor of and then-incumbent senator from California—and his wife, Jane, in memory of their only child, Leland.[2] Stanford has an 8,180-acre (3,310-hectare) campus, among the largest in the nation.

The university admitted its first students in 1891,[2][3] opening as a coeducational and non-denominational institution. It struggled financially after Leland's death in 1893 and again after much of the campus was damaged by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.[13] Following World War II, Frederick Terman, the university's provost, inspired and supported faculty and graduates entrepreneurialism to build a self-sufficient local industry, which would later be known as Silicon Valley.[14]

The university is organized around seven schools on the same campus. It also houses the Hoover Institution, a public policy think-tank. Students compete in 36 varsity sports, and the university is one of two private institutions in the Pac-12 Conference. Stanford has won 131 NCAA team championships,[15] more than any other university, and was awarded the NACDA Directors' Cup for 25 consecutive years, beginning in 1994.[16] Stanford students and alumni have won at least 296 Olympic medals (including 150 gold).[17]

Stanford is particularly noted for its entrepreneurship and is one of the most successful universities in attracting funding for start-ups.[18][19][20][21][22] Stanford alumni have founded numerous companies, which combined produce more than $2.7 trillion in annual revenue.[23][24][25] 58 Nobel laureates, 29 Turing Award laureates,[note 1] and 8 Fields Medalists have been affiliated with Stanford as alumni, faculty, or staff.[46]

Stanford is the alma mater of several world leaders, including the 31st President of the United States, Herbert Hoover, the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, and the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The university is also associated with 74 living billionaires, and 17 astronauts.[47] Stanford is one of the leading producers of Fulbright Scholars, Marshall Scholars, Gates Cambridge Scholars, Rhodes Scholars, and members of the United States Congress.[48]

  1. ^ a b Casper, Gerhard (October 5, 1995). Die Luft der Freiheit weht—On and Off (Speech). Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "History: Stanford University". Stanford University. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Chapter 1: The University and the Faculty". Faculty Handbook. Stanford University. September 7, 2016. Archived from the original on May 25, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  4. ^ As of August 31, 2023. "Stanford University reports return on investment portfolio, value of endowment". October 12, 2023.
  5. ^ "Finances – Facts". Stanford University. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Stanford Facts". Stanford University. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  7. ^ "Staff – Facts". Stanford University. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  8. ^ "IPEDS-Stanford University". Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  9. ^ "Color". Stanford Identity Toolkit. Stanford University. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  10. ^ The Stanford Tree is the mascot of the band but not the university.
  11. ^ "'Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax – 2013' (IRS Form 990)" (PDF). foundationcenter.org. 990s.foundationcenter.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  12. ^ "The founding grant: with amendments, legislation, and court decrees". Stanford Digital Repository. November 26, 1987. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  13. ^ "History – Part 2 (The New Century): Stanford University". Stanford.edu. Archived from the original on December 20, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  14. ^ "History – Part 3 (The Rise of Silicon Valley): Stanford University". Stanford.edu. Archived from the original on December 20, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  15. ^ Athletics, Stanford (May 24, 2022). "Simply Dominant". gostanford.com. Stanford University. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  16. ^ Conference, Pac-12 (July 2, 2018). "Stanford wins 24th-consecutive Directors' Cup". Pac-12 News. Retrieved June 1, 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Athletics, Stanford (July 1, 2016). "Olympic Medal History". Stanford University Athletics. Archived from the original on August 15, 2021. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference Page was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Devaney, Tim (December 3, 2012). "One University To Rule Them All: Stanford Tops Startup List – ReadWrite". ReadWrite. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  22. ^ "The University Entrepreneurship Report – Alumni of Top Universities Rake in $12.6 Billion Across 559 Deals". CB Insights Research. October 29, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  23. ^ "Box". stanford.app.box.com. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  24. ^ Silver, Caleb (March 18, 2020). "The Top 20 Economies in the World". Investopedia. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  25. ^ Krieger, Lisa M. (October 24, 2012). "Stanford alumni's companies combined equal tenth largest economy on the planet". The Mercury News. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  26. ^ "Vinton Cerf – A.M. Turing Award Winner". acm.org.
  27. ^ "Allen Newell". acm.org.
  28. ^ "Martin Hellman". acm.org.
  29. ^ "John E Hopcroft". acm.org.
  30. ^ "Barbara Liskov". acm.org.
  31. ^ "Raj Reddy – A.M. Turing Award Winner". acm.org.
  32. ^ "Ronald L Rivest – A.M. Turing Award Winner". acm.org.
  33. ^ "Robert E Tarjan – A.M. Turing Award Winner". acm.org.
  34. ^ "Whitfield Diffie". acm.org.
  35. ^ "Douglas Engelbart". acm.org.
  36. ^ "Edward A Feigenbaum – A.M. Turing Award Winner". acm.org.
  37. ^ "Robert W. Floyd – A.M. Turing Award Winner". acm.org.
  38. ^ Lee, J.A.N. "Charles Antony Richard (Tony) Hoare". IEEE Computer Society. Archived from the original on September 12, 2014. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  39. ^ "Alan Kay". acm.org.
  40. ^ "John McCarthy". acm.org.
  41. ^ "A J Milner – A.M. Turing Award Winner". acm.org.
  42. ^ "Amir Pnueli". acm.org.
  43. ^ "Dana S Scott – A.M. Turing Award Winner". acm.org.
  44. ^ "Niklaus E. Wirth". acm.org.
  45. ^ "Andrew C Yao – A.M. Turing Award Winner". acm.org.
  46. ^ Carey, Bjorn (August 12, 2014). "Stanford's Maryam Mirzakhani wins Fields Medal". Stanford Report. Stanford University. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  47. ^ Elkins, Kathleen (May 18, 2018). "More billionaires went to Harvard than to Stanford, MIT and Yale combined". cnbc. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  48. ^


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