3/2/98

CONTACT: Kathleen O'Toole, News Service (650) 725-1939;
e-mail kathleen.otoole@stanford.edu

Thai princess visits campus faculty, students, classes

Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand spent four and a half days on campus last week meeting with professors and students as well as attending classes to learn more about university curriculum.

A guest of the Institute for International Studies, Princess Sirindhorn was particularly interested in learning about how Stanford educates students about Asia and in Asian languages. She holds a doctorate in development education, and as director of the history department at Chulachomkiao Royal Military Academy in Thailand, she has been active in revising curriculum as well as in supervising the academy's Thai Music Club. The princess, who is the third child of the king and queen of Thailand, also made a similar visit to Harvard, and she toured several Silicon Valley firms while in the Bay Area Feb. 23 to 28.

Her activities at Stanford included attending classes in first-year Chinese, the world food economy, Russian politics and Indian history. She met with students from Asia and toured the East Asian library, the new language center, Memorial Church, the Stanford Center for Professional Development and Project Archimedes, a project of the Center for the Study of Language and Information to improve computer access for people with disabilities. She also met with various faculty in small seminars and attended a dinner hosted by President Gerhard Casper at Hoover House.

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By Kathleen O'Toole