Leland Stanford Junior University | |
![]() Seal of Stanford University
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Other name
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Stanford |
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Motto | German: Die Luft der Freiheit weht |
Motto in English
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The wind of freedom blows |
Type | Private research university |
Established | 1891 |
Founder | Leland and Jane Stanford |
Endowment | US$22.398 billion (2016) |
President | Marc Tessier-Lavigne |
Provost | Persis Drell |
Academic staff
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2,153 |
Administrative staff
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12,148 excluding SHC |
Students | 16,336 |
Undergraduates | 7,032 |
Postgraduates | 9,304 |
Location |
Stanford, California, U.S. Coordinates: 37°25′42″N 122°10′08″W / 37.4282293°N 122.1688576°W |
Campus | Suburban, 8,180 acres (12.8 sq mi; 33.1 km2) |
Colors | Cardinal, white |
Athletics | NCAA Division I FBS – Pac-12 |
Nickname | Cardinal |
Sporting affiliations
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Sports | 37 varsity sports teams (15 men's, 20 women's, 2 coed) |
Mascot | None (The Stanford Tree is the mascot of the Band but not the university) |
Website | www |
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University rankings | |
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National | |
ARWU | 2 |
Forbes | 1 |
U.S. News & World Report | 5 |
Washington Monthly | 1 |
Global | |
ARWU | 2 |
QS | 2 |
Times | 3 |
U.S. News & World Report | 3 |
Stanford University (Stanford; officially Leland Stanford Junior University, colloquially the Farm) is a private research university in Stanford, California, adjacent to Palo Alto and between San Jose and San Francisco. Its 8,180-acre (12.8 sq mi; 33.1 km2) campus is one of the largest in the United States. Stanford's undergraduate program is the most selective in America. Due to its academic strength, wealth, and proximity to Silicon Valley it is often cited as one of the world's most prestigious universities.
The university 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. Stanford was a former Governor of California and U.S. Senator; he made his fortune as a railroad tycoon. The school admitted its first students 125 years ago on October 1, 1891, as a coeducational and non-denominational institution.
Stanford University struggled financially after Leland Stanford's death in 1893 and again after much of the campus was damaged by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Following World War II, Provost Frederick Terman supported faculty and graduates' entrepreneurialism to build self-sufficient local industry in what would later be known as Silicon Valley. The university is also one of the top fundraising institutions in the country, becoming the first school to raise more than a billion dollars in a year.