President Marc Tessier-Lavigne steps down.
Last week, Jerry Yang, ’90, MS ’90, chair of Stanford’s Board of Trustees, shared the decision by Marc Tessier-Lavigne to step down from his role as president of the university after the board’s Special Committee review of issues related to certain scientific papers on which Tessier-Lavigne was a principal author. A report by an independent panel of leading scientific experts found that Tessier-Lavigne had taken insufficient steps to correct mistakes in the scientific record after flaws in the presentation of research data emerged in five papers. “The Scientific Panel did find evidence that some members of labs overseen by Dr. Tessier-Lavigne either engaged in inappropriate manipulation of research data or engaged in deficient scientific practices,” Yang wrote. It did not find evidence that Tessier-Lavigne, a neuroscientist who has co-authored more than 200 papers, personally engaged in research misconduct or knew of the data manipulation prior to publication.
Tessier-Lavigne accepted the report’s conclusions and announced his decision to resign as president effective August 31. “I expect there may be ongoing discussion about the report and its conclusions, at least in the near term,” he said. “Stanford is greater than any one of us. It needs a president whose leadership is not hampered by such discussions.”
Richard Saller, a professor of classics, will serve as interim president beginning September 1. He was dean of Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences from 2007 to 2018 and provost at the University of Chicago prior to that appointment.
Hot? Imagine you’re at this Lake Lag Water Carnival.
Photo: Courtesy Stanford News Service, photo c. 1950
From heat waves to smoke to flash floods, July has been a monthlong weather calamity. Chris Field, professor of Earth system science and of biology and director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, spoke with NPR about how climate change factors into those events.
How to make decisions with your sweetheart.
Couples face many decisions as they pursue a life together—about everything from their individual career pursuits to how much they’re willing to spend on a new sofa. Labor economist and professor emerita of education Myra Strober, who taught the Work and Family course at the Graduate School of Business for decades, teamed up with a past student, former Gap Foundation president Abby Rubin Davisson, MA ’08, MBA ’08, to write Money and Love: An Intelligent Roadmap for Life’s Biggest Decisions. The authors, along with Paula Holt, ’88, host of the Practically Married podcast spoke with Stanford about their top relationship communication tips for couples. One nugget: Don’t go into a tough discussion with the mindset that it’s you against your partner. Instead, think of the problem as your common enemy. Your goal is to make the best decision for both of you.
But wait, there’s more.
Tirien Steinbach, a Law School administrator who went viral in a video of the March 9 event in which student protestors disrupted a Federalist Society talk by federal appeals court judge Kyle Duncan, has stepped down from her position.
Art experts offer their best tips for getting the most out of exploring art museums while you’re on vacation, and sprinting through the Louvre is not one of them. In fact, they recommend picking a few works to gaze upon and then leaving before you’re too exhausted to fully appreciate what’s in front of you.
We hate to harsh your buzz, but it turns out today’s cannabis can be addictive. (Whether it might also improve your art museum experience is yet to be determined.)
Gabe Camarillo, JD ’02, undersecretary of the Army and the branch’s second-highest-ranking civilian, talks with Stanford magazine about the realities of recruitment in the modern era.
This one’s rare: Former Giants linebacker Blake Martinez, ’16, is building a new career out of selling Pokémon cards.
Rising sophomore Carissa Yip is a top-ranked woman in U.S. chess and close to achieving grandmaster status. (But, hey, you read the Loop today, which is also good.)
Note: The Loop sometimes links to articles outside of Stanford that may require a subscription to view.
