SARGENT WINS NOBEL
Thomas Sargent, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and professor emeritus in the economics department, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for research on how government policies influence the overall economy. Sargent shares the award with Princeton's Christopher Sims, although their research was conducted independently.
Sargent's work examines cause-and-effect relationships stemming from activity such as government spending or decisions affecting interest rates. He's among the leaders in the field of macroeconomics, which explores the behavior of the economy as a whole, and the announcement from the Royal Swedish Academy lauded him for demonstrating how structural macroeconometrics can be used to analyze permanent changes in economic policy.
GOOD CITIZEN: Professor Emeritus Hastorf 1921-2011 (Photo: Chuck Painter / Stanford News Service)
REMEMBERING FORMER DEAND AND PROVOST HASTORF
Albert Hastorf, a professor emeritus of psychology who served as dean of Humanities and Sciences in the early 1970s and as provost in the early '80s, died September 26 in Palo Alto at age 90. Noted for his work on social interaction and social perception, Hastorf joined Stanford as head of the psychology department in 1961. The campus community remembered him as "a fabulous raconteur" and University citizen, who with his wife Barbara established funds supporting graduate psychology students.
Hastorf, who retired in 1990, was the 1987 recipient of the Alumni Association's Richard W. Lyman Award, which honors service to the University by faculty members.
NYC BID GATHERS STEAM
In October, Stanford finished its proposal for establishing a New York City research and teaching center focused on the applied sciences. New York has "the potential for synergies that are not possible here—philanthropic connections, research connections to new industries that do not exist on the West Coast in the same way," President John Hennessy told campus press representatives in September. "The urban environment of New York is like no other in the U.S. We could develop new research strengths, such as the design of sustainable urban systems, that would be difficult to do without the context of New York City."
Hennessy said the first classes could take place at a temporary site within two years. Full development of the permanent campus, whose location was unconfirmed at press time, will take decades. A new website explains the University's plans: www.stanford.edu/nyc.
The city expects to make its decision by the end of the year.
ENDOWMENT GROWS ON GOOD RETURNS
As part of strong overall investment returns, Stanford's endowment was valued at approximately $16.5 billion on August 31, up 19.5 percent over the previous fiscal year. Merged pool investments—which include most of the University's endowment and expendable funds as well as capital reserves from Stanford Hospital and Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital—recorded a 22.4 percent return for the 12 months ending June 30, reaching $19.5 billion.
"While we're thrilled with investment returns and endowment growth over the past two years, Stanford's endowment still has not recovered the losses sustained in 2008-09," noted Randy Livingston, vice president for business affairs and chief financial officer. "We continue to be concerned about the possibility of reductions in federal research funding and an investment downturn driven by European debt problems and economic weakness at home."
The endowment's value is determined by investment gains and losses, gifts and funds that are transferred to it, offset by an annual payout for University operations. Harvard announced that its endowment, the nation's largest, earned an investment return of 21.4 percent and was valued at $32 billion as of June 30.
FRESHMEN, BY THE NUMBERS
What do we know about the 1,709 members of the Class of 2015?
• They represent 50 states and 52 countries; 91.6 percent are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Men account for 52.5 percent, women 47.5.
• Thirty-nine percent graduated from California high schools; 15 percent from schools in the South. Students who completed high school abroad account for 11 percent; the mid-Atlantic 9 percent; the Far West (Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii) 9.5 percent; and Midwest 7 percent. Mountain region schools account for 6 percent; New England 3 percent; and the Great Plains 2 percent.
• Whites make up 30.6 percent of the class, followed by students who identify as Asian-American (22.4 percent), African-American (10.6 percent) and Mexican-American (8.7 percent). The international category makes up 8.4 percent, with other Hispanic at 6.7 percent, and Native American and Hawaiian together representing 4.7 percent. The remainder did not specify.
