Introducing speakers Melinda and Bill Gates at Stanford's 123rd graduation ceremonies on June 15, President John Hennessy noted that this was the university's first joint Commencement speech. But first, he upheld tradition by asking the 1,687 bachelor's, 2,313 master's and 1,006 doctoral degree recipients to face the stadium stands and thank the families and mentors who'd helped them through their Stanford years.
Co-chairs of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Microsoft co-founder and his wife quipped that they, too, claimed the "nerd" label with pride, before delivering a sober message about the promise and pitfalls of technology. Each spoke of lessons learned by seeing poverty and disease firsthand in Africa and Asia: Optimism about technological innovation must be informed by empathy and applied to the greatest needs. "If you want to do the most, you have to see the worst," Melinda Gates said.
"If we don't focus innovation on the big inequities, then we could have amazing inventions that leave the world even more divided," concluded Bill Gates.
On the Farm, Then and Now
Main Photo: Samantha Berg; Insets: Couresty the Farman FamilyGraduating senior Jennifer J. Farman can trace her Stanford roots back to the Farm's beginnings. Her great-great-grandmother, Minna A. Kidwell Hotchkiss (inset, lower), a German major, was in the Class of 1895, the Farm's first four-year graduates. Minna's son Harold Kidwell Hotchkiss, '27 (inset), studied undergraduate law. His daughter, Jennifer's grandmother Suzanne E. Hotchkiss Farman, '56, left, majored in psychology, and her son, Charles S. Farman, '81, top, was a history major, as is daughter Jennifer, who will stay on the Farm for a master's in computer science next year.
