Dean Julie Departs
At Admit Weekends over the years, her inner refrain has been, "Folks, you're not in Cambridge, you're not in New Haven, you're not in Princeton, you're in Palo Alto, and we do things differently here." Now Julie Lythcott-Haims, a charismatic University administrator for 14 years, will be doing something different: pursuing a writing career. "Dean Julie," the associate vice provost for undergraduate education and dean of freshmen and undergraduate advising, will also enroll in the MFA poetry program at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.
Harry Elam, vice provost for undergraduate education, praised Lythcott-Haims for her work in expanding undergraduate advising and for her community building. She won a 2010 Dinkelspiel Award for contributions to undergraduate education. There will be a national search for a successor.
After graduating from Stanford in 1989, Lythcott-Haims got a law degree at Harvard and practiced corporate law before becoming a Stanford Law School associate dean in 1998. A mother of two, she's planning a book based on her experiences as dean, especially the changing role of parents in the lives of college students.
Foundation Hires Kramer
Larry Kramer, since 2004 the dean of Stanford Law School, will become president of the William ('34, Engr. '39) and Flora Hewlett Foundation on September 1. The philanthropical organization, based in Menlo Park, focuses on social and environmental action and has an endowment of more than $7 billion.
At Stanford, Kramer spearheaded greater commitment to public service and public interest law and championed deeper integration between Law and the other six schools. In his tenure, law education has emphasized team-oriented and multidisciplinary approaches and expanded clinical training.
Stanford Acting President and Provost John Etchemendy, PhD '82, said Kramer "pioneered a new vision of legal education and then oversaw the creation of a physical plant capable of supporting the new program." Etchemendy will conduct the search for a successor.
Energy Innovation on TAP
Sootless diesel, hydrogen production from plant sugars, and a "living" fuel cell in which microbes make methane are among seven research efforts granted $8.4 million from the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford.
"These awards support fundamental research on a broad range of potentially game-changing energy technologies," says project director Sally Benson. An industry partnership with ExxonMobil, GE, Schlumberger, Toyota and DuPont, the project has supported 93 programs with funding totaling about $113 million since its launch in 2002.
