Stanford business dean Levin named new president

Stanford University has chosen its business school dean, Jonathan Levin, a long-time faculty member with national political connections, as its next president following the ousting of Marc Tessier-Lavigne.

In selecting the 51-year-old alumnus, the university’s board of trustees attributed their decision to Professor Levin’s record in building and expanding the business school in a variety of directions over the past eight years, as well as his emotional and intellectual intelligence.

“He has a deep understanding and love of Stanford as a place that is optimistic and bold, a cradle of discovery and innovation,” the trustees’ chair, Jerry Yang, co-founder of the web services provider Yahoo who now leads the AME Cloud Ventures investment fund, said in announcing the result of the university’s seven-month search.

Professor Levin said in the announcement that he was “grateful and humbled” to be leading Stanford after three decades as a faculty member and an undergraduate, when the university “opened my mind, nurtured my love for math and literature, and inspired me to pursue an academic career”.

The dean will become president in August at the storied institution of more than 7,000 undergraduate and 9,000 graduate students.

He replaces Professor Tessier-Lavigne, who agreed to resign last July after months of internal investigations found that the neuroscientist did not correct known errors in his published research articles.

Richard Saller, professor of European studies and former dean of humanities and sciences, has been serving as Stanford’s interim president since.

Professor Levin takes office at a moment when US university presidents are facing escalating political and fundraising pressures, and leaving their jobs after progressively shorter than average terms in office. The signature recent examples were the resignations of the Harvard University and University of Pennsylvania presidents, both new and female, after clashing with donors and congressional Republicans who objected to their handling of student protests over the conflict in Gaza.

Professor Levin’s appointment also continues Stanford’s history, since its founding in 1885, of choosing only white, male leaders – at a time when institutional presidencies appear exceptionally resistant to diversity efforts elsewhere in the academy. The chief US higher education association, the American Council on Education, said in a report last year that the nation’s college and university presidents are still mostly older, male and white – and expressed hope that high rates of leadership turnover could provide an opportunity to change that dynamic.

In the immediate aftermath of Professor Levin’s selection, though, several of those inside and outside Stanford who have urged greater attention to diversity declined to comment on the matter.

One who did, Shaun Harper, professor of education, business and public policy at the University of Southern California, and founder and executive director of USC’s Race and Equity Center, said he regards Professor Levin as “impressively experienced and accomplished” and expects that he will be an ally in the pursuit of equity.

“I hope he will inspire and hold his community accountable for recruiting more black students, aligning the faculty demographics with the extraordinary diversity of Stanford’s student body, and ensuring that every student equitably benefits from their Stanford experience,” Professor Harper said. “All three have been chronic problems there.”

Professor Levin earned undergraduate degrees in English and mathematics at Stanford, a master’s degree in economics at the University of Oxford, and a doctoral degree in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He currently serves on the Biden administration’s President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, bringing to the White House panel a history of innovation in areas that include vaccine adoption, wireless broadband licensing and online marketplaces.

Those unambiguously enthused by his selection include Kathryn Ann Moler, professor of applied physics at Stanford who served previously as vice-provost and dean of research and Faculty Senate chair. Professor Levin “listens thoughtfully to diverse perspectives” and “embodies both wise stewardship and innovation in academia”, Professor Moler said.

paul.basken@timeshighereducation.com