Dialogue - Summer 2026

Checklist

The Spring cover story showcased nine inventions you may not have known about from the Farm’s first century, including the computer mouse. 

Illustration: Luke Lucas

You correctly highlighted Stanford Research Institute engineer Doug Engelbart, but omitted the contribution of Bill English, MS ’62. Bill built the first computer mouse and was the technical lead in setting up the mother of all demos, which showed not only what could be done with a graphical display on a single computer but also the value of the ability to communicate directly over a network, from one computer to another.
Joe Becker, PhD ’72
Palo Alto, California

Dr. Norm Shumway performed a coarctation repair on my infant-sized aorta at Stanford Hospital when I was less than a year old. It was probably a routine surgery for him at that point in his career (1987) but a truly life-changing one for me. He passed away when I was an undergraduate, which I found out because I happened to walk by Memorial Church during his memorial service. The only thing to do was skip my afternoon class and step into the church.
Tara Laidlaw, ’08
Talent, Oregon

My PhD adviser, Professor Herbert John Shaw, MA ’42, PhD ’48, and I invented the fiber-optic amplifier. It allows data to be transported at ultrahigh speed over fiber links thousands of miles long and led to the deployment of today’s communication network. Everyone who has a cell phone or a computer uses fiber amplifiers. The lasers that cut metal in automobile manufacturing plants or that down missiles, as well all use fiber amplifiers. They have been used in tens of thousands of scientific experiments and have appeared in just as many scientific papers. Remove the fiber amplifier and we would never have been ushered into the digital era. You might argue that the same could be said of many other vital internet components—the transistor, flat panels, the optical fiber, and lithium batteries all had a comparable impact. But they weren’t invented at Stanford.
Michel Digonnet, MS ’80, PhD ’84
Professor (research) of applied physics
Palo Alto, California

The article covers a slew of male inventors but not one woman. I’m not sure what message is conveyed by this choice. If it was impossible to find women from 50 or 100 years ago, you might explain their absence in your article rather than leave a glaring silence that you invite readers to fill. 
Merete Rietveld, ’00, MA ’01
Los Angeles, California

A Fitting Tribute

The Spring issue included a story about student-athlete Lowell Wilson, who died in 1964 as the result of an accident on the football field.

My husband, Martin Lee, ’66, teared up when I read this article to him. Despite having a memory impaired by Alzheimer’s, Marty remembered Lowell Wilson as a “great guy” and recalled visiting him at the hospital after the accident. Wilson’s accomplishments, aspirations, and courage in response to tragic loss and adversity certainly make him worthy of remembrance. I am grateful for the opportunity you provided to learn about this admirable young man.
Nancy Lambert
Durham, New Hampshire