Thinking Matters Faculty

Steven M. Block

The Stanford W. Ascherman, M.D., Professor and Professor of Applied Physics and of Biology

Professor Block, the S.W. Ascherman Chair of Sciences, is a biophysicist with a passion for all science and a background in both physics and molecular biology; his lab group conducts research on single proteins and nucleic acids using advanced optical methods.

Christopher Bobonich

Clarence Irving Lewis Professor of Philosophy and Professor, by courtesy, of Classics

Professor Bobonich works on the history of Greek philosophy and is interested in questions that, if they can be answered, are not fully answered by the sciences. 

Cari Costanzo

Academic Advising Director, Undergraduate Advising and Research

Dr. Costanzo’s teaching and research examine gender, discourses of identity, and contemporary urbanism. She is currently conducting an ethnographic study of life in a freshman dormitory.

Adrian Daub

Associate Professor of German Studies

Professor Daub works on nineteenth and twentieth century German literature, philosophy, and music.

Larry Diamond

Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Prof, by courtesy, of Sociology and of Political Science

Larry Diamond is Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, where he directs the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law. He is the Faculty Co-Director of the Haas Center for Public Service and author of The Spirit of Democracy and other works on global democratic development.

James Ferguson

Susan S. and William H. Hindle Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences

Professor Ferguson’s research has focused on southern Africa (especially Lesotho, Zambia, South Africa, and Namibia), and has engaged a broad range of theoretical and ethnographic issues. Running through much of his work is a concern with how discourses organized around concepts such as “development” and “modernity” intersect the lives of ordinary people.

Russell D. Fernald

Benjamin Scott Crocker Professor of Human Biology

Professor Fernald’s research focuses on how social behavior influences the brain. He is the Benjamin Scott Crocker Professor of Human Biology.

Margot Gerritsen

Associate Professor of Energy Resources Engineering and, by courtesy, of Mechanical Engineering and of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Professor Gerritsen is interested in computer simulation and mathematical analysis of engineering processes. She is currently the Director of the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering (icme.stanford.edu) and specializes in renewable and fossil energy production.

 

Peter Graham

Assistant Professor of Physics

Professor Graham is a theoretical physicist focused on discovering the fundamental laws governing the smallest and largest scales in nature.

 

Susan Holmes

The John Henry Samter University Fellow in Undergraduate Education and Professor of Statistics

Professor Holmes’ main areas of interest are computer intensive methods in data mining and multivariate statistics, especially the bootstrap.

Joseph (Joe) Lipsick

Professor of Pathology, Genetics and, by courtesy, of Biology

Professor Lipsick’s career as a poet went astray when he found a job at the unemployment office working in a laboratory, fell in love with research, and eventually became obsessed with understanding how mistakes in our own genes cause cancer.  He is a professor of Pathology, Genetics, and Biology.

 

Tanya Luhrmann

Howard H. and Jessie T. Watkins University Professor and Professor, by courtesy, of Psychology

Professor Luhrmann is an anthropologist who studies the way people experience God and also the way people with psychosis experience voices in different cultures. She is the Howard H. and Jessie T. Watkins University Professor.

David Lummus

Assistant Professor of French and Italian

Professor Lummus’ main areas of interest are the reception of classical and medieval literature, humanistic education, the politics of literature, myth, and poetic thought.

David Magnus, Ph.D.

Thomas A. Raffin Professor in Medicine and Biomedical Ethics, Professor (Teaching) of Medicine (General Medical Disciplines) and, by courtesy, of Bioengineering

Professor Magnus is Thomas A. Raffin Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Ethics and Professor (Teaching) of Pediatrics, and the Director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics. He is the co-Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Bioethics and President of the Association of Bioethics Program Directors.

Pamela Matson

Chester Naramore Dean of the School of Earth Sciences, Richard and Rhoda Goldman Professor in Environmental Studies and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute

Professor Matson is a Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for Environment, and McMurtry University Fellow in Undergraduate Education. She teaches and carries out research on a range of sustainability challenges related to food production and global climate change.

Yoshiko Matsumoto

Yoshiko Matsumoto is professor of East Asian languages and cultures (and by courtesy, linguistics), and coordinator of the Japanese language program. Her research investigates systems of language in use, from knowledge of grammar to expressions of identity. She is a recipient of the Humanities & Sciences Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Peter Michelson

Luke Blossom Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences

Professor Michelson, the Luke Blossom Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, is an experimental physicist who leads an international team of physicists and astronomers who have developed and use instrumentation to observe the very high-energy Universe.

 

Ian Morris

Jean and Rebecca Willard Professor in Classics

Ian Morris is the Jean and Rebecca Willard Professor of Classics. He has excavated in Britain, Greece, and Italy, most recently as director of Stanford’s dig at Monte Polizzo, a native Sicilian site from the age of Greek colonization. His book Why the West Rules—For Now (2010) was translated into thirteen languages, and his most recent publication, War! What is it Good For? (2014), was translated into five.

Josiah Ober

Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Professor in Honor of Constantine Mitsotakis, Professor of Classics, and Professor, by courtesy, of Philosophy

Professor Ober teaches courses and writes books and articles on Greek history, political thought, and what the ancient theory and practice of citizenship could teach leaders of modern organizations. He is the Tsakopoulos Kounalakis Professor in Honor of Constantine Mitsotakis.

Vijay Pande

Henry Dreyfus Professor of Chemistry and Professor, by courtesy, of Structural Biology

Professor Pande is the chair of the Biophysics Program, in addition to being the Director of the Folding@Home distributed computing project. His background is in physics and his research involves using computers and modeling to tackle challenging problems in chemical biology, biophysics, and biomedicine.

 

Scott D. Sagan

Caroline S. G. Munro Memorial Professor in Political Science and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Professor Sagan served as a special assistant to the Director of the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before coming to Stanford and is now the Caroline S.G. Munro Professor of Political Science and a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation and the Freeman Spogli Institute.

 

Jane Shaw

Dean for Religious Life and Professor of Religious Studies

Jane Shaw is Professor of Religious Studies and Dean for Religious Life. She is the author of several books on religion in the modern period.

Jan Skotheim

Associate Professor of Biology

Professor Skotheim is a cell and systems biologist who was originally trained as an applied mathematician. His research focuses on a variety of problems associated with the diversity of natural forms, including the principles of genetic control of the cell division cycle and size control in individual cells.

Kathryn Starkey

Professor of German Studies and, by courtesy, of English

Professor Starkey’s research and teaching interests include medieval literature, material and visual culture, gender and sexuality, and narrative theory.

Abraham Verghese, MD, MACP

Linda R. Meier and Joan F. Lane Provostial Professor

Dr. Verghese is a physician who has written two medical memoirs and the New York Times best-selling novel Cutting for Stone. His research focuses on the physician/patient relationship, and the ritual of the bedside exam. He is the Linda R. Meier and Joan F. Lane Provostial Professor.

Amir Weiner

Associate Professor of History

Professor Weiner specializes in the history of totalitarian regimes, World War II, and the former Soviet Union.