Stanford’s next president

Dear Stanford community,

I am pleased to share with you that after a comprehensive search, the Board of Trustees has unanimously appointed the next president of Stanford: Jonathan Levin, a Stanford alum, distinguished economist, and dean of Stanford’s Graduate School of Business since 2016.

Jon will take office as president on August 1, 2024. You can read much more about Jon, including the perspectives of several of the Presidential Search Committee members, in this announcement on the Stanford Report website.

Our 20-member Presidential Search Committee, co-chaired by Professor Bonnie Maldonado and trustees Lily Sarafan and Gene Sykes, engaged in a robust listening process across our Stanford community last fall and then executed a search for our next president. They conducted dozens of listening sessions and consulted with many across our community and beyond. Ultimately, more than 800 individuals were nominated. The committee brought diverse perspectives to this process, engaged with an accomplished pool of candidates with a variety of backgrounds, experiences and qualifications, and conducted intensive due diligence on a final group of candidates.

Throughout the process, thousands of members of the Stanford community shared their hopes and aspirations for our next president. The committee took this input very seriously, using it to inform the search. You can read more about their process in this letter from the search committee.

From an outstanding slate of candidates, it is Jon who we believe is the right leader for Stanford.

Jon was an undergraduate at Stanford, completing a BA in English and a BS in Mathematics in 1994. After obtaining his graduate degrees, he joined the Stanford economics faculty in 2000. He is widely recognized for his scholarship in industrial organization and market design, and in the School of Humanities & Sciences, he won both department and school-wide awards for his teaching. Jon’s standing in the field also is recognized externally, as evidenced by his current service as a member of President Biden’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Jon served as chair of the Department of Economics from 2011 to 2014 and in 2016 became dean of the GSB, which has made significant advances under his leadership. The school has made major investments in research and teaching and has expanded its global presence. The school has made it a priority to build a pluralistic community in which all are supported and a diversity of perspectives are welcomed. And, the GSB has engaged in new areas of cross-disciplinary collaboration in fields such as the future of technology, health care, and the environment.

The search committee found that Jon brings a rare combination of qualities: an impressive track record of academic and leadership success, the analytical prowess to tackle complex strategic issues, and a collaborative and optimistic working style. He is consistently described by those who know him as principled, humble, authentic, thoughtful, and inspiring.

Jon also is at the forefront of engaging with critical issues in our world. Just yesterday, the GSB held its inaugural Business, Government, and Society Forum, with a focus on “Responsible Leadership in a Polarized World.” This event is one part of an ambitious initiative Jon has spearheaded for the GSB and Stanford to bring together leaders and thinkers across sectors of society to address some of the world’s most pressing issues.

I know I speak for my fellow trustees when I express our enthusiasm for Stanford’s future under Jon’s leadership. He has a deep understanding and love of Stanford as a place that is optimistic and bold, a cradle of discovery and innovation. I’m excited to work with him to envision where Stanford can go in the years to come.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Richard Saller, who so graciously accepted the Board’s request last summer to serve as interim president and who will continue to lead us until August 1. Please join me in thanking him for his ongoing service to Stanford.

I look forward to working with Jon and our provost, Jenny Martinez, to take Stanford into the future.

Sincerely,

Jerry Yang
Chair, Stanford University Board of Trustees