Photo Ops

Buckle up, bell hooks is in the building. The feminist author known for her frank style and tempestuous nature can dish out withering criticism, but insists she's really all about love.

by Diane Rogers

More than 60 summers ago, a Stanford student and his buddies staked their vacation on an improbable quest: to find gold in the Sierra. They endured blistering heat, poisoned water and sore backs, but came away with a treasured memory--and a few nuggets of wisdom.

by Henry Clay Lindgren

What is a former radical atheist hippie doing as the dean for religious life? In his first year on the job, the Rev. Scotty McLennan is trying to show Stanford and the rest of Silicon Valley that faith and action go together.

by Nancy Day

Oncologist Ronald Levy whips up cancer vaccines from his patients' own tumors. The painstaking custom-blending makes this a promising experimental treatment, but may limit how many lives it can save.

by Joan O’C. Hamilton

As for-profit companies seek high-profile university partners for their forays into online education, Stanford is pondering how involved it should be, how to do it right and what the trend means for the future of higher education.

by Nina Schuyler

The first woman to inhabit the International Space Station, Susan Helms always has been a high achiever. Over the next few months the experiments she conducts will help bring space colonization within reach.

by Lisa Sonne

It was a ridiculous notion: a poor Indian kid from a broken home reaching the exclusive ranks of professional golf. Not only has Begay made it to the PGA, but his winning attitude--on and off the course--has the mark of a champion.

by Kelli Anderson

Researcher Fred Luskin has applied his techniques for getting over grudges to a challenging set of subjects: the parents and siblings and others touched by decades of violence in Northern Ireland. His findings may tell us: is everything forgivable?

by Joan O'C. Hammilton

Do running horses fly? The man who proved they do in an ingenious test at the Farm--and invented stop-motion photography in the process--was a technical wizard, a murderous cuckold and a thorn in Leland Stanford's side.

by Mitchell Leslie

This year's winning fiction-contest story features a father, a son and a storm brewing in the distance. What can they say that hasn't been said, and what would it mean if they did?

by Robert Gardner