Jonathan Levin named new president of Stanford University
On Thursday, Jonathan Levin was named president of Stanford University. Levin is a Stanford alumnus and has been the dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) for the last eight years. Levin will officially take over as president on August 1st later this year.
Stanford University: Stanford alum, business school dean Jonathan Levin named Stanford president
Levin takes over for disgraced former president Marc Tessier-Lavigne, who had to step down from the role of president due to a scandal involving manipulation of data in a series of neurobiology papers that he co-authored. While Stanford was searching for a permanent replacement, Richard Saller served as interim president and will continue on in that role through the end of July.
READ: Marc Tessier-Lavigne to resign as Stanford’s president
Levin taking over is definitely good news for Stanford athletics. He is an alum who should understand the ins and outs of Stanford extremely well. He obviously has done a good job as dean of the GSB and from reading the release from Stanford, he is well-liked by a wide variety of people associated with the university.
The following quote from the release put out by Stanford particularly stood out to me:
“Jon exhibits a perspective that blends optimism, intellect, ideas, and experience,” said Lily Sarafan, BS ’03, MS ’03, co-chair of the Presidential Search Committee and trustee. “Jon has a deep understanding of Stanford and its role in the world, including the need to expand the university’s educational reach, support emerging areas of research, and renew trust and goodwill both internally and externally.
“We interviewed an impressive slate of candidates, individuals with excellent credentials and experience. From that outstanding group, Jon emerged as the person best suited to lead Stanford into the future.”
The timing of this couldn’t come at a better time for Stanford. In this new era of college athletics with NIL and conference realignment, it’s really important for an athletic department to have a university president who gets it. While Tessier-Lavigne seemed largely aloof to what was needed for Stanford athletics to succeed, Levin appears to be one who will be much more friendly and warm in this respect. That should have everyone associated with Stanford athletics excited.
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