Stanford: What are your priorities as you enter the third year of your presidency?
Jon Levin: When I started, I had a strong sense of what makes Stanford such a remarkable and distinctive institution: our excellence across disciplines, our ability to collaborate, our location at the center of global innovation, and our culture of openness and optimism. Two years in, I have a clearer appreciation of what matters for Stanford’s future. We help to define the frontiers of knowledge. We’re going to be at the forefront of how advances in technology, especially artificial intelligence, enable discovery and reshape education and the world. We’re also reaffirming the value of humanistic and civic thought. They’re at the core of liberal education, and essential to the creativity, reflection, and vibrant debate at the heart of Stanford’s curriculum and culture. Finally, it’s an important moment for American universities to renew the broad public support that’s critical for our country to lead the world, and we’re working nationally with our peers to do this.
How are you sharing Stanford’s work with alumni?
We launched the Stanford Open Minds tour 18 months ago. It’s been a huge success, and will continue this year in five or six new cities. We’ve drawn 350 to 1,000-plus alumni at each event. Each one is different but they follow the same format. I start with an opening discussion, often with our Board of Trustees chair, Lily Sarafan [’03, MS ’03]. A group of faculty give microlectures about their research, and there’s a conversation featuring Stanford academic leaders about an important strategic topic.
The faculty talks have been amazing: flexible robots, beating-heart-transplant surgery, Renaissance painters, the Martin Luther King Jr. papers project. We’ve had panel discussions on our efforts to promote civil discourse, how AI is changing education, the vibrancy of the arts at Stanford, and what we’re doing to secure the future of athletics. The faculty bring the curiosity and enthusiasm for learning that alumni remember to each event.
What have you taken away from your conversations at Open Minds?
It’s given me a chance to meet thousands of alumni, from recent graduates to those who attended 70 years ago. We’ve been drawing undergraduate alumni as well as PhDs, MBAs, MDs, JDs, and graduates of all of our master’s programs. I’m always struck by the breadth of paths our alumni have followed, and by their common love for Stanford and the people they met here.
I think the events are giving alumni the chance to reconnect with Stanford and the energy of being a student, and they’ve been a joy for the faculty as well. The buzz of discussion is wonderful. At a time when there are a lot of challenges for universities, it’s a reminder of the extraordinary research that happens at Stanford and the durability of the bonds that students form with each other and the institution.
What lies ahead for Stanford’s alumni association?
As of our 2026 Commencement, we have 250,000 living alumni. They are all over the world, contributing to their communities and making the most of their Stanford education. The alumni association provides so many ways for alumni to connect back to the work of the university. We have a big transition this year because Howard Wolf [’80] is retiring after 25 years as president of the Stanford Alumni Association. He’s been a tremendous leader. I’m thrilled that we’ve recruited Michelle Landrey Cline [’93, MBA ’98] as his successor. She’s been involved at Stanford for 30 years and has a rare ability to light up a room and to inspire people to come together. That’s important because Stanford alumni have so much to contribute to the world, and to our students who are on campus today.
