The challenge of building on success: Stanford Engineering Year in Review

Stanford Engineering today faces an interesting challenge. We are successful in many dimensions – tremendously so. Our undergraduate enrollment is soaring. We are internationally known for our hands-on approach to learning. The accomplishments of our engineering faculty and alumni are legendary.

Our current success is our challenge going forward. The great engineering school of the future certainly looks different from the Stanford School of Engineering today, and change will be essential as we evolve to our future. But from our current position of success the path forward is not always obvious.

That is a challenge I embrace as your new dean. Fortunately, the school has a culture of being incredibly forward-looking and is eager to meet this challenge. Since President Hennessy named me the school’s ninth dean, I have met one-on-one with nearly all of the school’s 260 faculty members. This has been an extraordinary experience for me. And I can say that when it comes to looking to the future, our faculty are the most open-minded academics I have ever met.

As I’ve talked with the faculty, two things really struck me. The first is the quality of the young faculty. Their broad vision, civic-mindedness and raw brainpower are a bellwether for our future. They are the future of the school.

The second is how committed the faculty are to finding solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems. They might be working on something that will have an impact next year, or they might be doing the research needed to solve societal problems several decades from now. But an acceptance of our field’s responsibility to make the world a better place both now and in the future is at the heart of the school.

Much of the credit for the school’s current strength goes to Jim Plummer, who stepped down as dean in August after 15 years of service. Under his leadership, the school has seen a renewal of its physical infrastructure, including completion of the Science and Engineering Quad. There has been a remarkable renewal of faculty as well – more than 50 percent of current faculty were hired during Jim’s tenure.

Looking ahead, I am confident that with the help of our faculty, students and friends of the school, we will not only keep Stanford Engineering vibrantly successful but also push the boundaries of research, teaching and technology as we continue to change the world.

Sincerely,

Persis S. Drell