| 1 min readCommunity & Culture

Four Stanford scholars on motherhood and academia

In honor of Mother's Day, four Stanford scholars discuss the challenges and rewards of raising children while building academic careers on campus.

Sarah Heilshorn, Polly Fordyce, Jennifer Dionne and A-lan Holt first brought their kids to the office when they were infants in front packs. Now, many milestones later, they say growing up around campus has given their children a special sense of curiosity and community. Their children, in return, have given the Stanford scholars new ways of looking at their work – along with a commitment to normalizing parenthood in the early stages of an academic career. Filmed in 2019.

Go to the web site to view the video.

Julia James & Kurt Hickman

“It just feels really good to be able to show up as my full self.” —A-lan Holt, director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts

Related topics

Share this story