Stanford University

Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university located in the census-designated place of Stanford, California, near the city of Palo Alto. The campus occupies 8,180 acres (3,310 hectares), among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is ranked among the top universities in the world. Stanford was founded in 1885 by Leland and Jane Stanford in memory of their only child, Leland Stanford Jr., who had died of typhoid fever at age 15 the previous year.

The logo of Stanford

The seal of Stanford

An aerial view of the Stanford Quad and Oval.

Quotes

• But in the 1950s, many universities saw an advantage in building up all of the sciences and engineering with an eye toward obtaining federal grant money. No single institution did this better than Stanford University. And no one person was more attuned to using federal grants to build a university than its dean of engineering and eventual provost, Frederick Terman. Dr. Terman, trained as an electrical engineer, was an aggressive man with insight and boundless energy. When he began as dean, Stanford University was considered a good private regional school. When he retired as provost, it was arguably the best university for research in the nation.
  • Stuart Rojstaczer (2 September 1999). Gone for Good: Tales of University Life after the Golden Age. Oxford University Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-19-535205-4.