We, the undersigned Stanford Faculty members, express our strong and unambiguous support for the principles set forth in the public statement “A Call for Constructive Engagement,” published by the AAC&U on April 22.
We believe that the preeminence and vitality of U.S. universities have been of inestimable value to the country and to the world. Many of the brightest, most ambitious and most dedicated students come to learn at our universities. The science and engineering that power our economy are derived from university research, and the knowledge and understanding that define our civilization are produced at our universities as well.
This remarkable national resource has been produced, in part, by a long-standing cooperative relationship between the universities and the federal government. Universities have benefited greatly from the resources channeled to them through grants from multiple government agencies. Conversely, the government has exercised non-coercive but substantial influence on the directions of university development through policy decisions made by these agencies – thereby making sure that the funding serves the public purposes for which it was intended.
However, the Trump administration has adopted a wholly different – fundamentally hostile – approach to universities. It has made it clear that funding decisions will be made on the basis of a political litmus test, unrelated to any legislatively approved societal goals. It has made demands – in return for continued funding – that fundamentally challenge the intellectual freedom that is central to the university’s mission. And they have taken actions, without even a semblance of respecting due process of the law, to stem the inflow of the talented foreign students who have played such an important role in the technological and economic growth of the country.
The AAC&U statement was signed by the Presidents of many leading US universities. The President of Stanford chose not to sign this document, despite expressing informal agreement with its goals. We recognize that there are many considerations that constrain the actions of a university president as representative of an institution that must be open to a wide variety of perspectives. To us, however, as individual faculty members, the issue is simpler. To quote from the Kalven report that established the framework of “institutional neutrality,”
“From time-to-time instances will arise in which the society, or segments of it, threaten the very mission of the university and its values of free inquiry. In such a crisis, it becomes the obligation of the university as an institution to oppose such measures and actively to defend its interests and its values.”
We, the undersigned faculty members at Stanford University, feel that this is such a time. We echo the conclusion of the AAC&U letter: “On behalf of our current and future students, and all who work at and benefit from our institutions, we call for constructive engagement that improves our institutions and serves our republic.”
Steven Allan Kivelson is the Prabhu Goel Family Professor of Physics at Stanford University. Peter F. Michelson is the Luke Blossom Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences and a Professor of Physics at Stanford University. Leonard Susskind is the Felix Bloch Professor of Physics at Stanford University.
1. Steven Kivelson, Prabhu Goel Family Professor, Physics
2. Stephen Shenker, Richard Herschel Weiland Professor, Physics
3. Peter Michelson, Luke Blossom Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, Physics
4. Xiaoliang Qi, Professor, Physics
5. Aharon Kapitulnik, Theodore and Sydney Rosenberg Professor, Applied Physics and Physics
6. Andrei Linde, Professor Emeritus, Physics
7. Eva Silverstein, Professor, Physics
8. Leonard Susskind, Felix Bloch Professor, Physics
9. Patrick Hayden, Professor, Physics
10. Renata Kallosh, Professor Emerita, Physics
11. Richard Schoen, Professor Emeritus, Mathematics
12. Nancy Kollmann, William H Bonsall Professor in History, History
13. William Burnett, Adjunct Professor, Mechanical Engineering
14. Malcolm Beasley, Emeritus Professor (Former Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences), Applied Physics
15. Thomas Devereaux, Professor, Materials Science & Photon Science
16. Vahe’ Petrosian, Professor, Physics and Applied Physics
17. Alfred Zong, Assistant Professor, Physics, Applied Physics
18. Lauren Tompkins, Associate Professor, Physics
19. Robert Malenka, Pritzker Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
20. Jan Vondrak, Professor, Mathematics
21. Cecile Alduy, Professor, French and Italian Department
22. Mark Lemley, William H. Neukom Professor, Law
23. Giorgio Gratta, Ray Lyman Wilbur Professor, Physics
24. Joseph Romano, Professor, Statistics and Economics
25. Daniel Fisher, Professor, Applied Physics
26. David Maron, Professor, Medicine
27. Wing Hung Wong, Professor , Statistics
28. Jessica Riskin, Frances and Charles Field Professor of History, History
29. Robert Hawkins, Assistant Professor, Linguistics
30. Douglas Stanford, Professor, Physics
31. Leon Simon, Professor Emeritus, Mathematics
32. Yi Cui, Fortinet Founders Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
33. Carolyn Bertozzi, Professor, Chemistry
34. Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution and Freeman Spogli Institute
35. Ben Feldman, Assistant Professor, Physics
36. Ralph Cohen, Professor emeritus, Mathematics
37. Scott Rozelle, Senior Fellow, FSI
38. Rebecca Tarlau, Associate Professor of Education, Graduate School of Education
39. Priya Satia, Raymond A. Spruance Professor of International History, History
40. Hideo Mabuchi, Professor, Applied Physics
41. Todd Martinez, Ehrsam and Franklin Professor, Chemistry
42. Patricia Burchat, Professor, Physics
43. Axel Brunger, Professor, Molecular and Cellular Physiology
44. Robert Crews, Professor, History
45. Gordon Chang, Professor, History
46. Mikael Wolfe, Associate Professor, History
47. Gabrielle Hecht, Professor, History
48. Matthew Sommer, Bowman Family Professor of History and, by courtesy, of East Asian Languages and Cultures, History
49. Jack Rakove, W. R. Coe Professor of History emeritus, History and Political Science
50. Richard Ford, Professor, Law
51. Jo Boaler, Nomellini and Olivier Professor, Graduate School of Education
52. Richard Roberts, Frances and Charles Field Professor of History Emeritus, History
53. James Sheehan, Professor emeritus, History
54. Patricia Blessing, Associate Professor, Art and Art History
55. Lu Chen, Professor, Neurosurgery
56. Francisco Ramirez, Vida Jacks Professor Emeritus of Education, Graduate School of Education
57. Paula Moya, Professor, English
58. Rodolfo Dirzo, Professor, Biology, Earth Systems Science
59. Hank Greely, Professor of Law, Law School
60. Laura Stokes, Associate Professor, History
61. Robert Gordon, Professor of Law Emeritus, Law
62. Rega Wood, Professor emerita, Philosophy
63. Deborah Hensler, Judge John W. Ford Professor of Dispute Resolution, Stanford Law School
64. Arghavan Salles, Clinical Associate Professor, Medicine
65. Alison Morantz, James & Nancy Kelso Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
66. Paul Robinson, Richard W. Lyman Professor in the Humanities, Emeritus , History
67. Lawrence Friedman, Marion Rice Kirkwood Professor, Emeritus, Law School (Emeritus)
68. Julie Parsonnet, George DeForest Barnett Professor in Medicine, Medicine and Epidemiology and Population Health
69. Peter Stansky, Professor Emeritus, History
70. Phil Malone, Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
71. Michele Dauber, Frederic I. Richman Professor of Law, Law School
72. Shirin Sinnar, Professor of Law, Law School
73. Anne Joseph O’Connell, Adelbert H. Sweet Professor of Law, Law
74. Ethan Nowak, Assistant Professor, Philosophy
75. David Palumbo-Liu, Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor, Comparative Literature
76. Rabia Belt, Professor, Law School
77. Juliet Brodie, Professor of Law, Law
78. Jonathan Rosa, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education
79. Sarah Fletcher, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
80. Stephen Monismith, Obayashi Professor in the School of Engineering , Civil and Environmental Engineering and Oceans
81. Audrey Shafer, Professor Emeritus, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
82. James Holland Jones, Professor, Environmental Social Sciences
83. Helen Longino, Clarence Irving Lewis Professor in Philosophy, emerita, Philosophy
84. Margaret Cohen, Andrew B. Hammond Professor of French Language, Literature and Civilization , English
85. Christopher Manning, Thomas M. Siebel Professor in Machine Learning, Professor of Linguistics and of Computer Science, Linguistics and Computer Science
86. Robert Sapolsky, John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor, Biology, Neurology and Neurosurgery
87. Shanhui Fan, The Joseph and Hon Mai Goodman Professor of School of Engineering, Electrical Engineering
88. Anthony Norcia, Professor (Research), Psychology
89. Clark Barrett, Professor (Research), Computer Science
90. Estelle Freedman, Robinson Professor in U.S. History, Emerita, History
91. Terry Winograd, Professor Emeritus, Computer Science
92. Alexander Key, Associate Professor, Comparative Literature
93. Thomas Wasow, Professor of Linguistics & C.I. Lewis Professor of Philosophy, emeritus, Linguistics & Philosophy
94. Anshul Kundaje, Associate Professor, Genetics, Computer Science
95. Steven Block, Professor emeritus, Applied Physics and Biology
96. David Dill, Donald E. Knuth Professor, Emeritus, in the School of Engineering, Computer Science
97. Haiyan Lee, Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures
98. Lucy O’Brien, Associate Professor, Molecular & Cellular Physiology
99. Aaron Lindenberg, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
100. Robb Willer, Professor, Sociology
101. William Nix, Lee Otterson Professor of Engineering (Emeritus), Materials Science and Engineering
102. George Fisher, Professor of Law, Law
103. Brian Wandell, Professor, Psychology
104. Dan Jurafsky, Professor, Linguistics and Computer Science
105. Jennifer Chacon, Professor of Law, Law
106. David Goldhaber-Gordon, Professor, Physics
107. James McClelland, Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences, Psychology
108. Mehran Sahami, James and Ellenor Chesebrough Professor, Computer Science
109. Philip Bucksbaum, Professor, Physics
110. Tadashi Fukami, Professor , Biology and Earth System Science
111. Carla Shatz, Professor of Biology and Neurobiology , Biology and Neurobiology
112. Elizabeth Hadly, Professor Emerita, Biology and Earth System Sciences
113. Amir Goldberg, Professor of Organizational Behavior, Graduate School of Business
114. Steve Palumbi, Professor, Biology
115. David Grusky, Professor, Sociology
116. Sang-ick Chang, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Medicine
117. Victor Lee, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education
118. R. Lanier Anderson, Professor, Philosophy
119. Peter Pompei, Clinical Professor, Internal Medicine
120. Sara Constantino, Assistant Professor, Environmental Social Sciences
121. Carl Wieman, Professor emeritus, Physics and Graduate School of Education
122. Ramon Saldivar, Professor, English & Comparative Literature (joint)
123. Jeanne Tsai, Dunlevie Family Professor, Professor of Psychology, Psychology
124. Philip Fisher, Professor and Director, Stanford Center on Early Childhood, GSE
125. Thomas Sudhof, Avram Goldstein Professor in the School of Medicine, Molecular & Cellular Physiology and Neurosurgery
126. Christopher Lemons, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education
127. Michael Peskin, Professor, Particle Physics and Astrophysics
128. John Willinsky, Khosla Family Professor, Graduate School of Education
129. Bianxiao Cui, Professor, Chemistry
130. Jeremy Freese, Professor, Sociology
131. Brian Knutson, Professor, Psychology
132. Malcolm Slaney, Adjunct Professor, Music
133. Barbara Tversky, Professor Emerita, Psychology
134. Jonathan Berger, Professor, Music
135. Mark Denny, DeNault Professor of Marine Science, Emeritus, Biology
136. Elliott White Jr., Assistant Professor, Earth System Science
137. Jeffrey Ullman, Professor Emeritus, Computer Science
138. Denise Gill, Associate Professor, Music
139. J. Todd Hoeksema, Professor, Physics
140. Justin Gardner, Associate Professor, Psychology
141. Joan Bresnan, Sadie Dernham Patek Professor Emerita, Linguistics
142. George Somero, Emeritus Professor, Biology
143. Jeffrey Koseff, William Alden and Martha Campbell Professor of Engineering Emeritus, Civil and Environmental Engineering
144. Shane Denson, Professor, Department of Art & Art History
145. Eva Weinlander, Clinical Professor, Medicine
146. Abbas El Gamal, Professor, Electrical Engineering
147. Ge Wang, Associate Professor, Music (also, by Courtesy, Computer Science)
148. Christine Min Wotipka, Associate Professor (Teaching) of Education and (by courtesy) Sociology, Graduate School of Education
149. Jody Maxmin, Associate Professor, Art & Art History and Classics
150. David Labaree, Lee L. Jacks Professor, Emeritus, Graduate School of Education
151. Brian White, Professor Emeritus, Mathematics
152. James Fearon, Professor, Political Science
153. Marc Levenston, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
154. Margot Gerritsen, Professor [Emerita], Energy Science & Engineering
155. William Newsome, Professor, Neurobiology
156. Christopher Piech, Assistant Professor, Computer Science
157. Kären Wigen, Professor, History
158. Paul Segall, Professor, Geophysics
159. Russ Altman, Professor, Bioengineering, Genetics, Medicine
160. Gretchen Daily, Bing Professor of Environmental Science, Biology
161. David Plank, Emeritus Professor (Research), Graduate School of Education
162. Saraswati Kache, Clinical Professor , Pediatrics
163. Andrea Montanari, John D. and Sigrid Banks Professor, Statistics, Mathematics
164. James Ferrell, Professor, Chemical and Systems Biology, Biochemistry
165. Suzanne Pfeffer, Professor, Biochemistry
166. Robert Dunbar, Keck Professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Oceans
167. Luis de Lecea, Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Science
168. Peter Kim, Professor, Biochemistry
169. Chaitan Khosla, Professor, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering
170. Polly Fordyce, Associate Professor, Bioengineering, Genetics
171. Wen Feng, Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
172. Kim Bullock, Clinical Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
173. Barbara Simpson, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
174. Paul Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies Emeritus, Biology
175. Steven Chu, Professor, Physics
176. Nina Kirz, Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
177. Xiaojing Gao, Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering
178. Lingyin Li, Professor, Biochemistry
179. Roger Blandford, Professor, Physics
180. Julieta Gabiola, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Medicine
181. Ethan Hoffmann, Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
182. Jian Qin, Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering
183. Sindy Tang, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
184. David Relman, Professor, Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology
185. Indra Levy, Associate Professor , East Asian Languages and Cultures
186. Boris Heifets, Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
187. Susan McConnell, Professor, Biology
188. Justin Birnbaum, Clinical Professor , Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
189. Jonathan Osborne, Kamalachari Professor of Science Education, Emeritus, School of Education
190. David Como, Professor, History
191. Norbert Pelc, Professor, Radiology (Emeritus)
192. Reviel Netz, Patrick Suppes Professor of Greek Mathematics and Astronomy, Classics
193. Alyssa Burgart, Clinical Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative & Pain Medicine
194. John Ousterhout, Professor, Computer Science
195. Lars Osterberg, Professor (Teaching) Medicine, School of Medicine, Internal Medicine, Primary Care Population Health
196. Gerald Fuller, Professor, Chemical Engineering
197. Elaine Treharne, Professor, English
198. Stephanie Clarke, Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
199. Samuel Saenz, Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
200. Mark Davis, Professor, Microbiology and Immunology
201. Ryan Matlow, Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
202. Natalie Rasgon, Professor, Psychiatry
203. Peter van Roessel, Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
204. Irving Weissman, Professor, ISCBRM, Pathology
205. Anthony Antonio, Associate Professor of Education, Graduate School of Education
206. Miranda Tan, Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry
207. Tonita Wroolie, Clinical Professor , Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
208. Vinod Menon, Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
209. Matthew Porteus, Professor, Pediatrics
210. Ronald Levy, Professor, Medicine
211. Oliver Sum-Ping, Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
212. Natalie Solomon, Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Sleep Health and Insomnia Program
213. Jennifer Trimble, Associate Professor, Classics
214. Hannah Wright, Clinical Assistant Professor, Medicine
215. Miriam Schultz, Clinical Assistant Professor, Medicine
216. Eve Carlson, Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
217. Scott Bukatman, Professor, Art & Art History
218. Christine Jacobs-Wagner, Professor, Biology
219. Natalia Almada, Assistant Professor, Art and Art History, Documentary Film and Video
220. Xiaoze Xie, Professor, Art & Art History
221. Taia Wang, Associate Professor, Medicine
222. Grant Parker, Associate Professor, Classics and DAAAS
223. Ted Jardetzky, Professor, Structural Biology
224. Eric Stice, Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
225. Rose Salseda, Assistant Professor, Department of Art & Art History
226. Paul Kay, Adjunct Professor, Linguistics
227. Elizabeth Sattely, Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering
228. Stanley Qi, Associate Professor, Bioengineering
229. Katherine Ward, Clinical Professor, Medicine
230. Lawrence Goulder, Professor of Economics, Emeritus, Economics
231. Richard Vinograd, Professor, Art & Art History
232. Jennifer Dionne, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
233. Emanuele Lugli, Assistant Professor, Art and Art History
234. Chelsey Burke, Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
235. Tami John, Clinical Associate Professor, School of Medicine – Pediatrics
236. Elizabeth Egan, Associate Professor, Pediatrics
237. Brendan Floyd, Assistant Professor , Pediatric cardiology
238. Harvey Cohen, Professor, Emeritus, Pediatrics
239. Christopher Gardner, Professor, Medicine
240. Jaroslaw Kapuscisnki, Associate Professor, Music
241. Richard Martin, Adjunct Professor, Applied Physics
242. Jackelyn Hwang, Associate Professor, Sociology
243. Maya Mathur, Associate Professor, Biomedical Informatics & Pediatrics
244. David Cornfield, Bass Professor of Pulmonary Medicine, Pediatrics
245. Caroline Buckway, Clinical Professor, Pediatrics
246. Richard B Moss, Professor Emeritus, Pediatrics
247. Edith Sullivan, Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
248. Robyn Tepper, Clinical Associate Professor, Medicine – Vaden Health Center, Medicine
249. Michele Kastelein, Clinical Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine
250. James Spudich, Professor, Biochemistry
251. Sean Wu, Professor of Medicine and by courtesy, Pediatrics, Medicine
252. Machiko Hosoki, Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
253. Charles Gawad, Associate Professor, Pediatrics
254. Francisco De La Vega, Adjunct Professor, Biomedical Data Sciences
255. Uta Francke, Professor Emerita, Genetics and Pediatrics
256. Michelle Jackson, Associate Professor, Sociology
257. Steven Lindley, Professor of Psychiatry, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
258. Regina Casper, Professor Emerita, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
259. Chandani DeZure, Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics
260. Trevor Hastie, John A. Overdeck Professor, Professor of Statistics and Biomedical Data Science, Statistics and Biomedical Data Science
261. Sujata Patel, Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
262. Manisha Desai, Kim and Ping Li Professor, Medicine
263. Lorrin Koran, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emeritus, Active, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
264. Manuel Garcia, MD, Clinician Emeritus Professor, Pediatrics
265. Holly Cooper, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
266. Sophia Yen MD MPH, Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics, Adolescent Medicine
267. Kyle Hinman, Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
268. Richard Dasher, Adjunct Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures
269. Mary Leonard, Professor, Pediatrics
270. David Maahs, The Lucile Salter Packard Professor of Pediatrics, Pediatrics
271. Monica Allen, Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
272. Xueguang Zhou, Professor, Sociology
273. J. Kent Garman, Professor Emeritus, Anesthesiology
274. Corinna Darian-Smith, Professor, Comparative Medicine
275. Paul Buckmaster, Professor, Comparative Medicine
276. Linda Geng, Clinical Associate Professor, Medicine
277. Fiona Barwick, Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences – Sleep Medicine
278. Natalie Benjamin, Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
279. Katherine Eisen, Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
280. Louanne Hudgins, MD, Professor of Pediatrics (Genetics) Emerita, School of Medicine
281. Julie Williamson, Clinical Associate Professor, Anesthesiology
282. Neville Golden, Professor Emeritus- Active, Pediatrics
283. Rachel Sewell, Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatric Endocrinology
284. Richard Lewis, Professor Emeritus, Molecular & Cellular Physiology
285. Juan Manuel Rivas Davila, Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering
286. David Spiegel, Jack, Lulu and Sam Willson Professor in the School of Medicine, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
287. Carolyn Lougee, Professor Emerita, History
288. Janet Alexander, Frederick I. Richman Professor of Law, Emerita, Law
289. Alan Schroeder, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Pediatrics
290. Natalia Gomez-Ospina, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
291. Robert Feigelson, Professor Emeritus, Materials Science and Engineering
292. Jamie Tingey, Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
293. Carrie Loutit, Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatrics
294. Sylvia Yanagisako, Professor of Anthropology, Emerita, Anthropology
295. Emma Brunskill, Associate Professor, Computer Science
296. J Dawn Waters, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery
297. Helen Blau, Professor, Immunology & Microbiology
298. Hylton Molzof, Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
299. Robert Laughlin, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor, Physics
300. Eujin Park, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Education
301. Erica Ragan, Clinical Assistant Professor , Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
302. Guenther Walther, Professor, Statistics
303. Susan Clark, Assistant Professor, Physics
304. Gregory Enns, Professor, Pediatrics
305. Darrell Wilson, Professor, Pediatrics
306. Brent Sockness, Associate Professor, Religious Studies
307. Terry Berlier, Professor, Art and Art History
308. Dimitri Petrov, Michelle and Kevin Douglas H&S Professor, Biology
309. Jerome Hastings, Professor (Research), Photon Science
310. Caroline Chi, MD, Medicine
311. Sonali Wason, Assist. Director of Sport Psychology and Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
312. Edward Graves, Associate Professor, Radiation Oncology
313. Gilbert Chu, Professor, Medicine and Biochemistry
314. Sharon Long, Professor, Biology