Marc Tessier-Lavigne

A collaborative process leads to priorities for navigating a dynamic future.

At the annual meeting of the Academic Council, Provost Drell and I presented a high-level vision for Stanford’s future, building on the input of many hundreds of people from across the university community over the last year. We’re excited to share this vision with our community. We believe it reflects the optimistic, pioneering, energetic spirit of a community eager to strengthen Stanford’s foundations and to expand its contributions.

True to its roots, Stanford seeks to strengthen community bonds.

As we mourn today the loss of our colleague and dear friend Ben Barres, I thought it would be fitting to share a piece that I wrote in tribute to Ben almost a year ago. I was honored to deliver it as an introduction to a symposium held in Ben’s honor on January 12, 2017.

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have passed tax reform legislation that now awaits the president's signature. For higher education, the final bill contains mixed news. At Stanford, our attention now turns to addressing the effects of this legislation on our community.

Rejecting complacency, the Stanford community imagines our future.

I'm writing to update the campus community on the Advisory Committee on the Use of Historical Names on Campus. I met with the committee on Monday to get an update on its progress. Yesterday, a group of students concerned about the process voiced their views in a campus march, and I met with representatives of the group last evening. I respect their views, and I want to discuss here how we intend to move forward and bring the process to conclusion.

Like many of you, we have been following what has been going on at other campuses and in our own Stanford community around issues of speech and expression. We have been reflecting on how we at Stanford can advance both our unwavering commitment to the free expression of ideas and our equally steadfast goal of an inclusive community.