Category: Great reads

Stanford students work with East Palo Alto officials to evaluate a clean energy plan

When the East Palo Alto City Council took the final step toward joining a community choice energy program last week, it had the benefit of collaboration with Stanford graduate students behind its decision. The graduate students worked with East Palo Alto staff to evaluate the possible benefits and risks of joining the nonprofit Peninsula Clean… Read more Stanford students work with East Palo Alto officials to evaluate a clean energy plan

Patient at Stanford's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital gets a Super Bowl surprise

ALEX WALTER, 18, has been a Denver Broncos fan for a long time. His mom, Ronda, says it might have something to do with spending the first several years of his life in the Mile-High City, where Alex underwent treatment for his congenital heart disease, which included several surgeries. Alex came to Packard Children’s at… Read more Patient at Stanford's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital gets a Super Bowl surprise

Stanford's Tara VanDerveer wins lifetime achievement award

TARA VANDERVEER, head coach of Stanford’s women’s basketball team, was honored recently with the 2016 Coaching Corps Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2nd Annual Game Changer Awards in San Francisco. VanDerveer’s award was presented by former Stanford All-American JENNIFER AZZI, who currently is head coach of women’s basketball at the University of San Francisco. The… Read more Stanford's Tara VanDerveer wins lifetime achievement award

Stanford engineers have good news for Stephen Colbert: It is plausible to climb like Spider-Man

Last week, STEPHEN COLBERT took center stage on The Late Show and lamented that a recent study by zoologists at the University of Cambridge found that Spider-Man probably couldn’t actually climb walls. The researchers ran the numbers and found natural adhesive forces scale in such a way that geckos are the largest animals that can… Read more Stanford engineers have good news for Stephen Colbert: It is plausible to climb like Spider-Man

Stanford students in creativity course help inmates envision life after prison

How do you unlock latent creativity? Just talk to students at Stanford who have taken the course Management Science and Engineering 177: Creativity Rules. Every class begins with warm-up exercises that can look like a makeshift conga line or disco dance-off. Then, with bodies and minds limbered, students learn creative problem-solving tools for tackling challenges… Read more Stanford students in creativity course help inmates envision life after prison

'Stanford Medicine' magazine wins top honors

Stanford Medicine and three of the stories published in the magazine in 2015 earned the highest possible awards in the annual competition sponsored by the American Association of Medical Colleges. Stanford Medicine, which is produced by the medical school’s Office of Communication & Public Affairs, received an Award of Excellence in the external-audience periodical category.… Read more 'Stanford Medicine' magazine wins top honors

Two Stanford scientists among '10 people who mattered' in 2015

Nature, the venerable science journal, has announced its list of 10 people who mattered in the world in 2015, and two of them are from Stanford. ZHENAN BAO, professor of chemical engineering, and CHRISTINA SMOLKE, associate professor of bioengineering, were named to Nature‘s list of “10 people who mattered this year.” Nature included Smolke and… Read more Two Stanford scientists among '10 people who mattered' in 2015

Hoover Institution book explores income inequality, honors Nobel economist

The new Hoover Institution book, Inequality and Economic Policy: Essays in Memory of Gary Becker, is a collection of writings by economists who examine the many facets of income inequality. The book was published to honor the late economist GARY BECKER, a Nobel Prize winner and senior fellow of the Hoover Institution, who died in 2014. JOHN… Read more Hoover Institution book explores income inequality, honors Nobel economist

Stanford philosophy professor wins international book prize

MICHAEL FRIEDMAN, a professor of philosophy at Stanford, has won the Fernando Gil International Prize in Philosophy of Science for his latest work on 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Friedman’s book Kant’s Construction of Nature: A Reading of the Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science (Cambridge University Press, 2013) won the biennial prize, which recognizes the… Read more Stanford philosophy professor wins international book prize

Name that voice: Enjoy the 'Stanford 125' video, then take the quiz

Created as part of the kick-off of the university’s 125th anniversary celebration, the “Stanford 125″ video includes soundbites from 10 notable campus speakers. How many do you recognize?