In February, I had the pleasure of traveling to Mexico to meet with alumni, educators, government and business leaders, and journalists to talk about Stanford’s vision and the opportunity for scholarly and educational collaboration between our two countries. It had been almost 20 years since a Stanford president had visited Mexico and I was moved by the warm greetings I received from alumni wherever I went, as well as by the intense pride they take in their Stanford degrees.
Our trip took us to Mexico City and Monterrey, where we hosted receptions and seminars for alumni. Two of our professors—Paul Romer, of the Graduate School of Business and a Hoover fellow, and Hector Garcia-Molina, of computer science and electrical engineering—delivered compelling lectures to packed houses. Professor Romer discussed issues of economic growth and the role of the money supply, while Professor Garcia-Molina, MS ’75, MS ’77, PhD ’79, talked about the basis of Stanford’s success as a source of innovation for Silicon Valley.
I am delighted to report that our Mexican alumni and friends are raising support for a new endowed financial aid fund to be known as The Mexico Fund at Stanford University. This fund will allow talented individuals from Mexico, regardless of financial need, to study at Stanford. It is hoped that these students will become global leaders in a wide variety of disciplines and professions.
One might legitimately ask why it is so important for the University to reach out to other countries, both through potential research collaborations and need-blind scholarships. Indeed, although it is important for us to reconnect with our alumni, these trips have a larger goal. Given the international dimensions of so many of the world’s challenges—from renewed threats of a global pandemic to sustaining our shared environment to issues of peace and security—we must develop stronger ties with scholars outside the United States, as well as help prepare leaders for countries around the world.
During the question-and-answer period at the alumni reception in Mexico City, one alum said there is a feeling among many that the United States has turned inward and seems less interested in the world’s problems than in previous times, and particularly less interested in Latin America. He was gratified—as were many alumni—to learn that this university intends to play a larger role in the global community, and that given Stanford’s location on the Pacific Rim and our heritage as a Western institution, both Asia and Latin America are natural foci.
Indeed, groups of faculty across the University are working in multidisciplinary teams on research directed at Latin America. For example, the newly established Bill Lane Center for the North American West, led by professors David Kennedy, ’63, and Richard White from the history department, explores the evolution and future challenges of the West. The phrase “North American West” was expressly chosen because it reflects the intimate historical ties between the Western United States and our northern and southern neighbors. In October, the center will sponsor a roundtable on immigration and we will seek scholars from Mexico who can contribute to the dialogue.
During our visit, we announced the first grants from the new Presidential Fund for Innovation in International Studies. These grants are awarded in a competitive selection process to multidisciplinary teams of faculty doing work on international issues. Among the eight grants totaling just over $1 million is a project entitled “Evaluating Institutional Responses to Market Liberalization: Why Latin America Was Left Behind,” proposed by a diverse group of distinguished faculty consisting of Judith Goldstein, Stephen Haber and Barry Weingast from political science; Avner Greif from economics; Herb Klein from history; and H. Grant Mille from medicine and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. This project will explore the relationship between inequality and Latin American institutions in explaining the poor economic performance of Latin American countries in the past two decades and examine why reforms such as trade liberalization have failed to yield expected results. After talking to our alumni business and government leaders in Mexico, I can safely say that this project should be of intense interest.
If we are to be a truly great world university, Stanford must contribute to an intellectual environment in which we clearly establish the connections between the health and well-being of our country and the rest of the world. In areas such as immigration, the environment and health care, we in the United States will be deeply affected by the ability of Mexican leaders to create a better quality of life for their citizens. Working together as we educate leaders on both sides of the border, we can play an important role in helping to solve problems and create new opportunities for economic and social innovation, not just for our own countries, but for people throughout the world.
