Summer 2019

Stanford is launching a major new effort to harness the communities of microbes inhabiting our bodies—known as the microbiome—in developing new therapies for debilitating diseases. The Stanford Microbiome Therapies Initiative (MITI), a joint initiative between Stanford ChEM-H and the Department of Bioengineering, is backed by a $10 million gift from philanthropists Marc and Lynne Benioff and a $7 million gift from Mark and Debra Leslie.

The initiative has an ambitious goal of building and manipulating the microbiome to create new therapies and test them in early-stage human clinical trials.

"Microbiome science has great potential for advancing our understanding and treatment of human disease," said Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne. "Stanford faculty are studying the microbes that inhabit our bodies in health and disease and developing platforms to generate new therapies. This body of work creates a foundation for the Stanford Microbiome Therapies Initiative, which will foster interdisciplinary collaborations across the university to spark discoveries that will benefit patients. I'm thankful to Marc and Lynne Benioff for seeing the potential of this promising field and making a generous gift to inspire other philanthropists, to the deans of the Schools of Medicine and Engineering for their leadership in developing this new initiative, and to Mark and Debra Leslie for joining the Benioffs with their generous support."

The Benioffs announced their lead gift to Stanford along with funding for the University of California, San Francisco to create the UCSF Benioff Center for Microbiome Medicine, which aims to radically rethink the role of the microbiome in early life and develop new interventions to prevent childhood diseases. These gifts further energize the Bay Area's thriving microbiome research community and leverage the collaborative research in this realm already taking place at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, a research institute affiliated with Stanford, UCSF and UC Berkeley.

"Lynne and I are honored to support the cutting-edge research of two of the world's leading universities as they pioneer a new era of microbiome research, science and therapies," Marc Benioff said. "With a deeper understanding of the human microbiome, our generation can unlock new treatments that impact lives around the world."

Collaborative Team

MITI is led by Michael Fischbach, associate professor of bioengineering. MITI leverages Stanford's extensive expertise in microbiome research, the strengths and proximity of Stanford's Schools of Medicine and Engineering, and the interdisciplinary endeavors of Stanford ChEM-H (Chemistry, Engineering and Medicine for Human Health).

Fischbach, who is also the Stanford MAC3 Paul and Mildred Berg Faculty Scholar and the Willard R. and Inez Kerr Bell Faculty Scholar in the School of Engineering, was recruited to Stanford in 2017 through a collaboration between Stanford ChEM-H and the Department of Bioengineering. He brought together a small group of Stanford faculty who were already working to better understand the microbiome. Fischbach proposed forming MITI (pronounced "mighty") to focus that group's efforts on manipulating microbial communities—both their composition and their genetics—and engineering those communities into therapies to address a range of diseases.

"This initiative is a perfect reflection of the ChEM-H vision of bringing together chemistry, engineering and medicine to revolutionize therapeutic development and to improve human health," said Carolyn Bertozzi, professor of chemistry and the Baker Family Co-Director of Stanford ChEM-H. "Since its inception, ChEM-H has had a strong interest in microbiome science and medicine and we were thrilled to succeed, in partnership with the Department of Bioengineering, in recruiting Michael Fischbach to ChEM-H to lead a targeted, pioneering initiative in this area." Bertozzi is also Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences.

The initiative draws on a culture at Stanford of working across disciplines to tackle major issues with imaginative solutions, said Kathryn Moler, vice provost and dean of research and the Sapp Family University Fellow in Undergraduate Education. "This initiative couldn't happen without the involvement and support of the deans of the schools of Medicine and Engineering and a willingness of faculty across campus to step outside their traditional domains and creatively work together to accelerate actionable discoveries and make a tangible impact in human health," she said. "The team has an ambitious goal and I'm thankful ChEM-H is able to provide a natural home for this initiative to flourish."

Initial Funding

The lead gift from Marc and Lynne Benioff, and the funds provided by Mark and Debra Leslie, will enable the Stanford MITI team to initiate the work needed to construct, manipulate, and characterize novel microbial therapies for a range of human diseases. Stanford will seek additional philanthropic support in order to bring promising new therapies to early-stage human clinical trials.

Marc Benioff is the chairman, co-chief executive officer and founder of Salesforce. Lynne Benioff is a Distinguished Director of the Board of Overseers of the University of California San Francisco Foundation and serves on the board of directors of the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals, along with several other organizations.

Mark Leslie is founder and managing general partner at Leslie Ventures, a private investment company, and a lecturer in management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Debra Leslie is a director of the Leslie Family Foundation, whose mission is to positively impact lives through economic development, health care and education, and to support Jewish community life.

Focus on Therapies

Much of the microbiome research currently underway focuses on sequencing and cataloging communities of microbes in our gut and on our skin—work that has led to discoveries about the role of the microbiome in diseases like inflammatory bowel disease, liver disease, autoimmune disease, and cancer.

Fischbach said little has been done until now to precisely manipulate those communities or their genomes to explore possibilities for new treatments. Instead, current therapy utilizes human stool: an undefined community of microbes with unknown modes of action and variable therapeutic outcomes.

"This groundbreaking research at the intersection of engineering and medicine is precisely what we envisioned when we joined forces with Stanford ChEM-H to recruit Michael Fischbach," said Jennifer Cochran, who is the Shriram Chair of the Department of Bioengineering. "Achieving this ambitious goal will draw on Stanford's expertise in engineering novel solutions and experience translating research into new therapies to be tested in humans. I appreciate the support of the schools of Medicine and Engineering and Stanford ChEM-H for their valuable teamwork in forming this new initiative."

The initiative will launch with seven faculty from across engineering and medicine, plus executive and advisory committees to provide expert guidance and is based in part on pioneering work from Alice Cheng, a clinical instructor in gastroenterology at Stanford Medicine.

Spring 2019

In recognition of philanthropic support from Robert "Bob" King, MBA '60, and Dorothy "Dottie" King, the Stanford Center on Global Poverty and Development is changing its name to the Stanford King Center on Global Development. The support from the Kings, together with investments from other philanthropists, will create new research opportunities for faculty and students, inform public policy, and engage private sector leaders.

"The Stanford King Center on Global Development has an ambitious mission to alleviate poverty and promote global development," said Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Stanford University president. "Stanford is profoundly grateful to Bob and Dottie King for their visionary support and to the other donors who share a commitment to improving the human condition."

Launched in 2017, the newly renamed center is a joint venture between the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies (Stanford Seed). It is a focal point on campus for faculty and students eager to explore the opportunities and challenges of the developing world.

The additional philanthropic funding will enable the Stanford King Center to expand the scope and pace of faculty research initiatives and to advance large, collaborative endeavors. For instance, the Data for Development initiative is leveraging satellite imagery, cell phone records and social media analytics to better understand poverty, agriculture, infrastructure and migration. These new data sources and powerful technologies are allowing researchers to build a foundation of knowledge and inform effective policies and programs.

Other work funded by the center is providing evidence on institutions and technologies that can improve the business environment for firms—and consumers—in developing countries. For example, a project led by Meredith Startz, the Stanford King Center's inaugural postdoctoral fellow, is focused on honey production in Ethiopia. In partnership with the Ethiopian government, her team is examining how incentives to improve the quality of honey for export to developed-country markets can reach up the supply chain to benefit farmers. Startz will join the Stanford Economics Department this fall as an assistant professor.

"The center's work directly aligns with our values and ambitions in improving the quality of lives around the world," Bob King said. "Alleviating global poverty is one of the most pressing challenges of our time. Dottie and I are looking forward to seeing how increased collaborations and new insights will lead to progress for those who need it most."

A Global Commitment

For over 55 years, Bob and Dottie have hosted international students in their home close to campus, forging deep ties with students from Africa, Asia, South America and elsewhere.  Drawing inspiration from these relationships, the Kings have a long-standing dedication to global development. Bob King, an alumnus of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, is the founder of R. Eliot King & Associates, an investment management firm based in Menlo Park, and a venture capital company called Peninsula Capital. He and Dottie have made a number of major philanthropic investments to empower students and entrepreneurs working in emerging economies. Today, they continue to organize and advance the pursuit of their philanthropy through King Philanthropies.

At Stanford, in addition to their support for the Stanford King Center, the Kings are founding donors of Stanford Seed, an initiative led by the GSB. Stanford Seed partners with entrepreneurs in emerging markets and provides them with training, coaching and networking support to build thriving enterprises that transform lives. The Kings also have provided generous support for Knight-Hennessy Scholars, the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, the GSB, Stanford Athletics, and several other areas across the university.

Real-World Impact

The Stanford King Center engages a community of more than 100 faculty researchers in fields such as economics, political science, sociology, engineering, and medicine. These researchers also participate in two-way exchanges with policymakers and private-sector leaders, international organizations and NGOs.

"Through innovative new multidisciplinary collaborations, many of which reflect Stanford's distinctive strengths, the Stanford King Center is able to inform both public policy and private sector decisions that impact people's lives," said Grant Miller, the director and a health and development economist and associate professor of medicine. "Everything we do—from catalyzing research and awarding student fellowships to convening conferences and events—is motivated by a desire to help alleviate global poverty."

The center's undergraduate and graduate student programs enable students to work alongside faculty members in the field, perform research of their own, and immerse themselves in issues related to global poverty and development. This academic year, a record number of undergraduate and graduate students were awarded research support for in-the-field experiential learning opportunities on four continents.

One of those students, Nikhil Shankar, '21, spent a summer doing field research in India—an experience he says was transformative.

"After observing firsthand the challenges that individuals and key institutions in developing nations face, my dedication to ensuring equal opportunity in health, education, and financial empowerment is stronger than ever," Shankar said. "Now I have specific ideas and experiences that can help me translate that dedication into smart action."

Winter 2019

In the new Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Biology Research Building, Stanford biology faculty and students once spread across campus are now together under one roof. Here, experts in areas such as ecology and evolution are working next to molecular and cellular biologists in communal spaces that promote both intellectual and social interactions.

Bass Biology is dedicated solely to research in the life sciences and provides laboratory space for Biology Department faculty and staff, as well as hundreds of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Construction of the five-story structure was completed last summer. Faculty have been gradually relocating their labs into the building since the fall.

"The Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Biology Research Building is becoming a place of collaboration and discovery," said Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne, a neurobiologist whose lab is located in the new building. "Here, faculty members and students from across the biological sciences will work side by side in state-of-the-art laboratories and gain new insights into the building blocks of life. I am very grateful to Anne and Bob, whose generous gift to Stanford is a testament to their vision for science research and discovery."

A Vision for the Life Sciences

The building was made possible by a gift from Anne T. Bass, MLA '07, and Robert M. Bass, MBA '74, longtime Stanford volunteers and donors. The couple have provided counsel and extraordinary philanthropic support to four university presidents, many deans, and dozens of faculty to advance Stanford's mission of teaching and research.

"Our top-ranked Biology Department could have no better champions than Anne and Bob," said Martin Shell, vice president and chief external relations officer. "This building brings to completion the science, engineering and medical campus plan that Bob was instrumental in shaping during the early days of The Stanford Challenge. During that campaign, Anne's service on the H&S Council inspired others to follow their lead by endowing faculty positions. Together, Anne and Bob worked with academic leaders to ensure that this building will best serve our faculty and students."

Anne Bass is a longtime children's health advocate, both at home in Fort Worth, Texas, and at Stanford. She has been a member of the board of directors for the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford since 2000 and co-chaired two of the hospital's campaigns. She is a long-serving member of the H&S Council and also served multiple terms on the Stanford Athletic Board and the Parents' Program Advisory Board.

Robert Bass is founder of the American aerospace firm Aerion Corp., president of his investment holding company Keystone Group LP and the founder of the Oak Hill family of investment funds. At Stanford, he served five terms as a member of the Board of Trustees, from 1989 to 2018, including as board chair from 1996 to 2000. His primary focus was on the Land and Buildings Committee, reshaping the campus as it has grown. He is a director of the Stanford Management Company (SMC), which oversees the university's endowment. He was a founding director of the SMC Board in 1991 and served as chairman from 2000 to 2004.

Robert is a trustee of Rockefeller University, Middlesex School, and the Amon Carter Museum. He is chairman emeritus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth.

Together, the Basses have been active in many of Stanford's major fundraising campaigns. They endowed five chairs in the School of Humanities and Sciences during Stanford's Centennial Campaign. They served as co-chairs for The Campaign for Undergraduate Education and created the Bass University Fellows in Undergraduate Education Program, which recognizes faculty for their exceptional contributions to undergraduate education. During The Stanford Challenge, they served on both the steering committee and leadership council.

In 2013, the Stanford Associates awarded the couple the Degree of Uncommon Woman and the Degree of Uncommon Man, the university's highest honor for rare and extraordinary service.

Anne Bass said that she and her husband have been inspired by the discoveries made by Stanford biologists as they seek to unravel the mysteries of life. "The key to curing childhood leukemia could lie in a fundamental discovery about cancer cells that has already been made but whose significance hasn't been realized yet," she said. "Stanford's world-class biologists are well-poised to make discoveries like these in the future, and Bob and I are proud to help them in their endeavor."

Treating diseases begins with an understanding of biology, Robert Bass added. "Foundational research in the biological sciences is essential, affecting everything from how we perceive ourselves and our relationship to the rest of the planet to advances in medicine and agriculture. Across Campus Drive is the research building that houses Bio-X. The X refers to the innovative collaborations from engineering, to chemistry, and beyond, but bio is the foundation," he said. "Bass Biology is the transition from the academic campus to the Medical Center, and that influenced the architecture."

Beneficial Adjacencies

Situated on Campus Drive between the Clark Center and the Sapp Center for Science Teaching and Learning, Bass Biology is the cornerstone of Stanford's new quad, which connects with the School of Medicine via Discovery Walk. This walkway, which runs through the medical school to Stanford Bio-X in the Clark Center, highlights the connection between foundational and applied research in the quest to improve human health.

The building's close proximity to other departments at Stanford - such as computer science, statistics and engineering - will help promote collaborations and interactions among faculty and students from different academic disciplines. "Biology is at the nexus of the sciences at Stanford. Development of a quad, with Bass Biology as one of its anchors, is very exciting because it creates a new focus for the natural sciences on the campus," said Tim Stearns, the Frank Lee and Carol Hall Professor at Stanford and chair of the Biology Department.

In the past, the Biology Department's faculty and students were split across five aging buildings. This physical separation ran counter to the collaborative nature of modern science. In Bass Biology, faculty and their labs are purposefully arranged to create beneficial adjacencies that enhance collaboration. The 133,000-square-foot building is divided into wet labs for hands-on research and computational or "dry" labs. Hybrid research spaces combining both types of labs are also available.

"We're extremely excited about and grateful for this new space, which seems ideally designed for sparking creativity across teams," said Gretchen Daily, whose lab has relocated to the new building. Daily has been honored for her contributions to undergraduate teaching as a Bass University Fellow in Undergraduate Education. She is also the Bing Professor of Environmental Science and director of the Natural Capital Project, which is advancing a systematic, science-based approach for integrating the values of nature into policy and finance worldwide.

"Bass Biology will give us a huge boost within the Biology Department, as we have many innovative collaborations with different labs and with the nearby Medicine and Engineering schools," Daily said.

Telling a Story

Designed by Flad Architects and Ennead Architects, the limestone-clad, two-wing structure is connected by an enclosed bridge on the upper floors. The slats in the multi-story pergola that shade the building's entry are meant to be an evocative reflection of the bands in gel electrophoresis, a common laboratory technique.

Incorporated throughout the building are multiple storytelling elements. For example, a two-story interactive "media mesh," visible from Campus Drive and the medical school, displays biology-themed abstract images that are controllable through a touch-screen interface near the building's entrance. The first-floor lobby and entranceway of Bass Biology also features an art installation called "Pacific Cadence" to provide a visual presence on campus for Hopkins Marine Station, which is affiliated with the Biology Department. "Pacific Cadence" is made up of photographic collages of the ocean's surface that are seamlessly knitted together to give a sense of the vast, complex and ever-changing nature of the Pacific Ocean.

Winter 2019

The Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University has received a gift of more than 1,000 photographs, including works by American photographers Ansel Adams, Edward Curtis, John Gutmann, Helen Levitt, Wright Morris, Gordon Parks, and Edward Weston. The gift from the Capital Group Foundation includes $2 million to endow a named curatorial fellow position and support the care and exhibition of the collection.

"This incredible collection of photographs for teaching, research, and display is one which the Stanford community will benefit from for years to come," said Harry Elam Jr., vice president for the arts and the Freeman-Thornton Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. "The accompanying funding ensures that new scholarship will be pursued through ambitious exhibitions and catalogs, as well as fulfill our responsibility to train the next generation of scholars of photography. We are very grateful to the Capital Group Foundation for this gift."

The Cantor has had about 300 of the photographs on long-term loan from the foundation. Those images, plus another 700, will now become part of the Cantor's permanent collection. The curatorial fellow will be responsible for conducting research on and producing ambitious scholarly exhibitions from the collection at the Cantor.

"With specially selected, in-depth groups of photos by each artist, we will be able to examine and present an expansive account of the photographic work of these remarkable artists who captured the America and Americans of their times," said Susan Dackerman, John and Jill Freidenrich Director at the Cantor.

"The foundation's directors were highly impressed with the Cantor director's enthusiasm, deep interest in the collection, and in her vision for the future," said Bryan Lewis, foundation president. "Over a 25-year period, Stanford's Cantor Arts Center has helped the foundation review and recommend for purchase a number of artists' works that are in the collection today and will now be moving to Stanford permanently."

Stanford was chosen as a permanent home for the collection of photographs after a more than two-year, nationwide evaluation of 20 institutions. In the end, the Cantor was selected because of the leadership's strong commitment to the study of photography and the expansion of staffing to support the museum's mission. The gift will broaden the Cantor's existing collection and provide new educational and exhibition opportunities.

"For years the collection of photographs has been absolutely essential to how the Cantor Arts Center presents photography in our galleries and study rooms, and now this gift will transform how the museum addresses the aesthetic and social concerns of 20th-century American art," said Elizabeth Mitchell, Burton and Deedee McMurtry Curator. "A unique aspect of the collection is the fact that some of the artists themselves determined which of their prints would be included."

Mitchell will be organizing an exhibition from the collection to open in September of this year. Two more exhibitions are planned for 2020. These exhibitions will delve deeply into the influential work of the artists represented in the collection.

"Ever since I first saw his work, I have been enthralled by Wright Morris's photographs," said Alexander Nemerov, who is chair of the Department of Art and Art History at Stanford and the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Provostial Professor in the Arts and Humanities. "If this gift were of his pictures alone, that would be extraordinary. That it should contain the works of other even more illustrious photographers -many of them working in California - makes it all the more notable."

Winter 2019

Stanford Libraries has received a $25 million gift from the Harold C. and Marilyn A. Hohbach Foundation to create a vibrant collections-centered research hub and endow the Silicon Valley Archives program.

The newly renovated space in the East Wing of the Cecil H. Green Library will be named Hohbach Hall and will include a new Special Collections classroom, as well as spaces for group study, seminars, events, and exhibitions.

Harold Hohbach, who passed away in 2017, was a patent law attorney and real estate developer. A great admirer of Silicon Valley inventors and an innovator himself, Hohbach had long aspired to create a space to challenge and inspire the leaders and entrepreneurs of the future. When he learned about the vast collection and research arm of Stanford's Silicon Valley Archives, Hohbach made a commitment to fund the renovations of Hohbach Hall and sustain the program's efforts to capture the evolving history of the region and its contributors.
President Marc Tessier-Lavigne noted the significance of the Hohbach gift as the university and its libraries look to the future needs of students and faculty.

"Our library system continues to be a critical platform for discovery and research, and this very generous gift will create an intellectual hub that fosters bold thinking and sparks curiosity," Tessier-Lavigne said.

He added, "Hohbach Hall will offer one of the most complete and active research collections on Silicon Valley history. Students, scholars and society all benefit when academic libraries have the ability to develop research tools, curate and organize growing amounts of content and data, and evolve their facilities and systems to improve access and delivery of information."

Inspiring the Next Generation

Exhibition areas will be located throughout Hohbach Hall and feature such items from the Silicon Valley Archives as design documents and drawings for Douglas Engelbart's first computer mouse prototype and early audio and video recording technology from the Ampex Corp. collection.

The spaces will allow staff to curate and display, in physical and digital forms, documents, photographs, equipment, and ephemera from some of Silicon Valley's largest companies. Hohbach had commissioned nine original oil paintings to celebrate the ingenuity that powers Silicon Valley; these paintings have been donated to Stanford and will hang in Hohbach Hall on a rotating schedule.

"Harold had deep respect for the inventors he worked with during his 50 years as a patent attorney," said Marilyn Hohbach. "It was important to Harold that the drive and passion of entrepreneurially minded students be encouraged and the accomplishments of the Silicon Valley inventors that came before not be forgotten. He saw the opportunities for the materials from the Silicon Valley Archives and his paintings to become educational tools that would inspire students to reflect and seek solutions for issues we face today and in the future."

The Hohbach gift comes as the libraries celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the expanded main library building. Jane Stanford's decision to erect a new "grand library" just outside the Main Quadrangle was a conscious effort to attract the best and the brightest to Stanford as the university was establishing itself among its peers. The original library building she designed collapsed during the 1906 earthquake, but her notion of creating a location for knowledge communities to gather and explore took root. A new main library was opened in 1919 at its current location.

"The ability of the Hohbach family to look past today and invest in our ability to offer future students and scholars new ways to engage with the library through archives and collections will stimulate the research engine beyond what we can imagine now," said Michael Keller, university librarian and vice provost for teaching and learning. "Our loyal supporters make it possible for the libraries to both address the current scholarly needs of our users and anticipate how students and faculty will use our library system well into the future. Hohbach Hall will be a prime example of these realizations."

Interdisciplinary Exploration

Stanford Libraries has recently repurposed library space to engage users directly with collections, expert staff, and new technologies. The David Rumsey Map Center, which opened on the fourth floor of Green Library in 2016, served as inspiration for Hohbach Hall. The Rumsey Map Center has created a place that fosters exploration of ideas across several disciplines.
Hohbach believed the innovative nature of Silicon Valley appeals to interdisciplinary research extending far beyond the domain of any one discipline.

Since opening in 1983, the Silicon Valley Archives has supported a wide array of research projects, including partnering with economic historians to understand the technological drivers of economic growth and supporting historians of science as they pieced together the development of key ideas and technologies. Some of this research mapped cluster effects and patterns of growth in Silicon Valley by business scholars. Stanford's Silicon Valley Archives has also supported media artists and documentary filmmakers who have sought to interpret and document the origins, spread, and impact of technologies on the American and global societies.

The archives currently encompass more than 300 collections relating to the history and development of Silicon Valley.

"It is a unique archive in the sense that it is very much a living archive," said Henry Lowood, who helped establish the Silicon Valley Archives and who will assume the curatorship named for Harold C. Hohbach. "As we assemble an archive of materials from Silicon Valley's past, we are also actively developing new approaches to archival documentation that will chronicle the region as it is today and will be in the future."

The gift from the Hohbach Foundation, according to Lowood, will transform the Silicon Valley Archives "from a well-used storehouse of information into a nerve center for research, study, conversation, collaboration and learning."

Renovations for Hohbach Hall are expected to begin in fall 2019.

Winter 2018

Stanford Law School (SLS) will expand its global educational offerings through a $25 million gift—the largest gift from an alum in the law school's history—from William A. Franke, AB '59, LLB '61, a prominent businessman and lifelong philanthropist. The gift, inspired by SLS's 125th anniversary, will endow SLS's Global Initiative, which will now be named the W. A. Franke Global Law Program.

"Bill strongly believes in the transformative power of education, evident from his long history of giving to higher education institutions," said Richard E. Lang Professor of Law and Dean M. Elizabeth Magill. "We are profoundly grateful for this extraordinary investment, which will allow us to permanently transform the educational experience at Stanford Law School. As a result of this visionary gift, our graduates will have an educational experience that reflects the global world we live in, and they will be ready to lead in an increasingly complex and borderless world."

"We are thrilled with this generous and forward-thinking gift from Bill Franke, which truly reflects the spirit of Stanford's broader mission of purposeful and positive real-world impact," said Persis Drell, provost of Stanford University. "The W.A. Franke Global Law Program will provide the kind of education needed to develop leaders in a rapidly changing world."

"I'm excited by the law school's vision to make Stanford Law a true incubator for the next generation of global leaders," said Franke. "My hope is that this gift will add a layer of global preparedness to the education offered at Stanford and will help continue the tradition of sending SLS graduates into the world able to tackle pressing issues and add value in the global arena."

Preparing for a Global Environment

In the current global environment, lawyers are increasingly facing transnational legal problems and engagement with people, legal systems, businesses, governments, and multilateral institutions from around the globe. Law schools' educational offerings must prepare students to operate in a highly globalized environment.

"At Stanford Law, we're training a generation of lawyers who can lead and solve problems in an increasingly interconnected world," said Robert Daines, SLS Pritzker Professor of Law and Business, associate dean for global programs, and senior faculty for the Rock Center on Corporate Governance. "Bill's gift will enable us to expand our offerings, including a new innovative global quarter where our students can spend an entire quarter focused on global business law."

Stanford Law's first global quarter, starting in 2020, will focus on business in China, Singapore, and Asia. With six weeks of classes on campus to prepare students to understand international business transactions, senior faculty will then take students abroad for three or four weeks to meet and work with international lawyers, academics, politicians, students, and business leaders.

"No other law school offers the kind of intense immersion overseas that this program will provide our students," said Daines. "With the global quarter, a global foundational course, intensive overseas study trips, and greater integration of transnational law into existing core courses, Stanford Law is shaping the future of legal education by ensuring that every student has the opportunity to cultivate a global perspective."

About William A. Franke

During Franke's business career, he has been the chief executive officer of a Fortune 500 forest products company, chairman of a large regional bank, chairman of a large U.S. convenience store company, and, from 1993 to August 2001, chief executive officer of America West Airlines (now integrated into American Airlines).

Franke served as the founding chairman of Airplanes Group Ltd., a $5 billion aircraft finance vehicle created from the aircraft portfolio of GPA Group plc., the Irish aircraft leasing company. Through investments made by Indigo Partners, the private equity firm Franke founded, he has been the founding chairman of Tiger Airways (Singapore); has served as chairman of Spirit Airlines (U.S.); serves as chairman of Wizz Air (Hungary), Frontier Airlines (U.S.) and JetSMART Airlines (Chile); is a director of Volaris (Mexico); and has served on several public company boards of directors.

Franke has a history of generous support for SLS, including the W. A. Franke Professorship in Law and Business at the law school, currently held by Professor Joseph Grundfest, JD '78, and Stanford University, including annual gifts through The Stanford Fund for Undergraduate Education. Franke has also served as a member the SLS Dean's Advisory Council.

Fall 2018

Stanford will accelerate the pace of discovery about the human brain and advance innovative, interdisciplinary brain science thanks to nearly $250 million in recent gifts from philanthropists from the United States, Asia, and Europe. In recognition of the lead gift from alumna Clara Wu Tsai and her husband, Joe Tsai, the Stanford Neurosciences Institute is changing its name to the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute.

The institute's goal is to better understand how the brain functions, both in health and disease, and to pave the way for new treatments for neurological and psychiatric diseases such as depression, anxiety, and Alzheimer's. The funds, raised since the institute was established in 2013, provide support to scale up research initiatives; expand resources for faculty, students, postdocs, and new technologies; and complete an interdisciplinary research complex where scientists from across campus can meet and collaborate.

Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne, a neuroscientist himself, said the gifts come at a pivotal time.

"We are on the threshold of a very promising era, as we make discoveries about the living brain that were previously unimaginable," Tessier-Lavigne said. "Nearly 450 faculty members from a range of fields are already engaged in the neurosciences and brain-related research at Stanford, making it one of our most vibrant areas of inquiry on campus. These foundational investments uniquely position our scientific community and university-wide institute to advance new breakthroughs. I am deeply thankful for the vision and generosity of our donors, including Clara Wu Tsai and Joe Tsai, who understand the potential of this research to improve brain health and human well-being."

Gift to Advance Brain Discoveries

Clara Wu Tsai, '88, MA '88, served on a presidential task force that helped shape the Stanford Neurosciences Institute and Stanford ChEM-H (Chemistry, Engineering & Medicine for Human Health). She said the concentration of experts from many fields within walking distance of one another on one campus and the university's ability to harness this collective knowledge were key factors that she and her husband took into account when deciding to invest in the neurosciences at Stanford.

"Joe and I believe Stanford is uniquely positioned to drive breakthrough discoveries about the brain, translate them into effective therapies, and train future scientists of the world," Wu Tsai said. "Ultimately, we hope the research undertaken at the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute will lead to cures and treatments that impact millions of people by prolonging their lives and making them more fulfilling and productive."

Wu Tsai earned a bachelor's degree in international relations and a master's degree in international policy studies at Stanford, as well as an MBA at Harvard. She then pursued a career in business and finance as an executive at American Express and at Taobao, China's largest online shopping site.

At Stanford, Wu Tsai is an active member of the advisory council that helps guide university institutes focused on the interdisciplinary life sciences. She also co-chairs the advisory cabinet for the neurosciences institute and serves on the university's Global Advisory Council. Previously, she served on the advisory council for Stanford Bio-X.

Joe Tsai is executive vice chairman and one of the founders of Alibaba Group, a global Internet technology company based in China. Alibaba has businesses in digital commerce, entertainment, cloud computing, logistics, and financial technology.

Together, Joe and Clara pursue philanthropic investments that advance knowledge, innovation, equality of opportunity, and creative arts. Their work with global partners focuses on the translation of new knowledge into practical applications with human and social impact.

Platform for Campus-Wide Collaborations

In its role of fostering university-wide initiatives related to brain science, the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute will leverage ongoing contributions from the schools of medicine, engineering, and humanities and sciences. These partnerships will be further enhanced when a new interdisciplinary research complex opens next year. The complex comprises two intersecting buildings, one that will serve as the hub for the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute and the other for Stanford ChEM-H.

The 235,000-square-foot research complex is located a short walk from Stanford's basic sciences departments, engineering and medical schools, and the children's and adult hospitals. Also nearby is the James H. Clark Center, home base for Stanford Bio-X, a cross-disciplinary venture launched in 1998 that has become a model for biosciences programs worldwide.
The Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute is led by William Newsome, the Vincent V. C. Woo Director and Harman Family Provostial Professor, who jointly led the working group for President Barack Obama's BRAIN research initiative. Newsome said that advances in the neurosciences have the potential to transform the 21st century in the way that quantum physics and breaking the genetic code transformed the 20th century.

"Technologies invented in the last decade are making it possible for neuroscientists to acquire new kinds of information about the brain that, until recently, was the stuff of scientists' dreams," Newsome said. "The sequencing of the human genome, new imaging techniques, optogenetics, discoveries in nanoscience and physics—all of these advances are providing critical insights into our minds and ourselves. Clara and Joe's generous gift will help us get closer to a world where we can effectively diagnose and treat brain injury, diseases, and disorders, as well as enhance brain functions to improve lives."

Big Ideas in Neuroscience

When the neurosciences institute was launched five years ago, Newsome asked faculty to form cross-disciplinary teams around what they considered the boldest, most visionary research projects tackling challenges in brain science. More than 230 Stanford scientists and scholars presented dozens of "Big Ideas in Neuroscience" that focused on three research directions: NeuroDiscovery, NeuroEngineering, and NeuroHealth. The institute selected projects with tremendous potential that were less likely to secure federal funding at this early stage of research, especially since the projects require substantive teamwork among diverse faculty experts. A second round of Big Ideas was announced last month.

Ongoing projects are looking into brain rejuvenation, addiction, neuro-technologies, brain-machine interfaces, nervous system disorders, and psychiatric illness.

In addition, the institute funds modest grants and awards that support high-risk, high-reward collaborations. This includes research into cognitive aging, stroke recovery, treatments for obsessive compulsive disorder, and chronic pain. The institute also fosters teamwork through shared laboratories and collaboration spaces as well as workshops, seminars, and symposia.

Vice Provost and Dean of Research Kathryn Moler said that the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute will accelerate these types of innovative and interdisciplinary campus endeavors and support collaborations with SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and biotech firms in Silicon Valley.

"One of the challenges of interdisciplinary research is finding effective ways for experts from different fields to work together," Moler said. "What we are learning from Big Ideas and other cross-campus collaborations is helping to set a new standard for how to do science in the 21st century."

New Era for Neurosciences at Stanford

The Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute is marking its fifth anniversary Oct. 11 with a symposium titled "Natural/Artificial Intelligence." Future plans include launching an initiative in neuro-translation to help teams of scientists move discoveries from the lab into practical application. It will also support neuro-theory collaborations involving computer scientists, statisticians, applied physicists, and engineers who want to identify fundamental principles of nervous system computation, understand how the brain's neural network of interconnecting neurons operates, and also make sense of the vast quantities of new brain data.

Newsome said that there has been an explosion of interest from young scientists in collaborative brain research and the institute will need to raise fellowships to ramp up cross-disciplinary graduate and postdoctoral training programs. The institute also aims to launch research centers that specialize in highly promising areas such as sensory neuroscience, computational neuroscience, and molecular and cellular approaches to brain disease.

"Breakthroughs in the neurosciences have the potential to not only improve human well-being but to guide future policies and practices that affect the criminal justice system, drug control, national defense, social welfare and education," Newsome said. "I believe that the work of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute will be truly transformative."