I am very pleased to send this
link to a story in the Stanford Report, which outlines our progress in creating a new school focused on climate and sustainability. You will read about the new school's transitional divisions that will evolve into departments; its thematic initiatives, drawing on all seven schools at Stanford; and the vision for a sustainability accelerator. Stanford Earth and all its faculty, students, research, and educational programs will be at the center of the new school as one of five units being brought together and expanded to form the new entity. The others are the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, the Precourt Institute for Energy, the facilities of Hopkins Marine Station, and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, which will become a joint department between the new school and the School of Engineering.
As you will read in the
Stanford Report story, the provost has named a committee to lead an international search for the school’s inaugural dean. The beginning of the new dean’s tenure will coincide with the end of my term as dean of Stanford Earth. I am looking forward to returning to my research and teaching as a founding member of the new school’s faculty.
Although this represents significant organizational change, one thing that will
not change is our commitment to improving our basic understanding of Earth and its processes. Stanford Earth’s world-class fundamental scholarship will carry forward into the new school as a critical underpinning of sustainability research and education.
More than 50 groups of faculty, staff, and students have come together over the past year to bring us to this point, and now we're looking forward to hearing from you. I hope you will attend our all-alumni Town Hall on Friday, September 17; you will receive an invitation with details soon. Of course, I welcome your thoughts at any time, and encourage you to share them at
[email protected]. Your continued engagement and support are incredibly important to me and to all of Stanford's leadership.
Our school has a history of leading the way in changing times, as evidenced by the evolution in our name—from the School of Mineral Sciences in 1947 to the School of Earth Sciences in 1962 and the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences in 2015. Evolving Stanford Earth to a new school focused on sustaining our planet is an enormous and exciting challenge, and I feel very positive about our shared future. I look forward to hearing from you in the months ahead as we continue to keep you informed of our progress.
With best wishes,
Stephan A. Graham
Chester Naramore Dean
Welton Joseph and Maud L'Anphere Crook Professor
