Stanford Report Editor Kate Chesley retires

Stanford Report Editor Kate Chesley retired July 1 after 23 years of service to the university.

Kate Chesley (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)

During her tenure, which included various roles in University Communications, Chesley had a profound impact on virtually every segment of the campus community. Prior to being named Stanford Report editor in 2016, Chesley’s Stanford career included speech writing for John Etchemendy’s entire tenure as provost, keeping families of students engaged and informed as editor of the Stanford Parents and Guardians Newsletter and overseeing a variety of other communications responsibilities.

Under her leadership, Stanford Report flourished, now reaching nearly 39,000 daily readers with open and clickthrough rates well above the average for a publication of its type. Faculty and staff consistently list it as the most trusted published source of information about Stanford and researchers regularly ask when articles about their work will appear in Stanford Report.

In addition to her communications roles, for several years Chesley served as a resident fellow in Roble Hall and before that as an academic adviser to dozens of students.

Upon hearing of her retirement, former students remembered her understanding and thoughtfulness. Said alumna Sarah Kunis: “Kate was so much more than an academic adviser to me. She made me feel like I truly belonged at Stanford, and her warmth and kindness made me feel like I was at home, despite the fact that my family was an ocean away from the Farm.”

In recognition of her dedicated service to Stanford, Chesley was named a member of the staff emeriti upon her retirement.

With Chesley’s departure, Charity Ferreira takes over the helm of Stanford Report.