E N C Y C L O P E D I A

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, in Stanford, California, is a private university, and one of the most prestigious in the United States. It was founded in 1891 by Leland Stanford, and his wife, Jane Stanford, and named in honor of their deceased teenage son. It is located approximately 35 miles south-east of San Francisco in the city of Palo Alto, California.

Stanford built its reputation as a pioneering Silicon Valley institution with top programs in engineering and the sciences. It has since expanded a premier humanities program to rival that of any U.S. college. It has a reputation among students of a relaxed, fun-loving, warm-weather alternative to the Ivy League schools.

The campus covers over 8,000 acres, making it one of the largest university campuses in the world. The University has approximately 6,500 undergraduates. The graduate schools include Stanford Law School, Medical School, Graduate School of Business, School of Earth Sciences and School of Education. The Schools of Humanities & Sciences and Engineering have both graduate and undergraduate programs.

Stanford also played an important role in the development of Silicon Valley, with alumni such as the founders of Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and Yahoo Indeed, "Sun" originally stood for 'Stanford University Network'.

The official motto of Stanford University, "Die Luft der Freiheit weht" when loosely translated from the German means "Let the winds of freedom blow."

The Stanford University Libraries (SUL) have a collection of more than 8 million volumes.

The campus publishes the Stanford Daily as its primary newspaper. The Stanford Report forms the official publicity organ of the University.

Stanford Athletics

Stanford participates in the NCAA's Division I-A and forms part of the Pac-10 athletic conference. It also has membership in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for indoor track (men and women), water polo (men and women), women's gymnastics, women's lacrosse, men's gymnastics, and men's volleyball. Stanford's traditional sports rival is Cal. The winner of the annual football "Big Game" between Cal and Stanford gains custody of the Axe. Formerly the Stanford Indians, that mascot came to be adjudged politically incorrect in the late 1970s. The Stanford sports teams are now officially the Stanford Cardinal (the color, not the bird), but the unofficial school mascot is "The Tree." Part of Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB), the tree symbol derives from the El Palo Alto pine tree on the Stanford and City of Palo Alto seals.

Stanford has won the Sears Cup the past nine years, honoring the number one ranked collegiate athletic program.

Companies Birthed At Stanford

Notable Stanford Alumni

Stanford Alumni Athletes

Sports stars who attended Stanford include:

 



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