Stanford names Jonathan Levin as its new president

Stanford University announced Thursday that its 13th president will be Jonathan Levin, an economist and alumnus who has led the Stanford Graduate School of Business as dean for the last eight years.

Levin will take the helm on Aug. 1, nearly a year after the resignation of Marc Tessier-Lavigne who was plagued by allegations of misconduct reported by a Stanford campus newspaper in 2022. The story spawned a months-long inquiry into his scholarly work. The investigation concluded that Tessier-Lavigne did not falsify data but failed to correct mistakes.

“As I look to Stanford’s future, I’m excited to strengthen our commitment to academic excellence and freedom; to foster the principles of openness, curiosity, and mutual respect; and to lead our faculty and students as they advance knowledge and seek to contribute in meaningful ways to the world,” Levin said in a statement.

Levin, 51, has a long track record in academia. Under his leadership as dean, Stanford’s graduate business school expanded its educational reach, made significant investments in research and launched an initiative addressing the intersection of business and societal issues, according to the university. Levin earlier chaired Stanford’s economics department, from 2011 to 2014.

He is known for his scholarship in industrial organization and market design. Levin helped design the first advanced market commitment that accelerated the global adoption of the pneumococcal vaccine, the university said. He also helped design the Federal Communications Commission’s $20 billion incentive auction to convert broadcast television spectrum to broadband wireless licenses.

In 2021, President Biden invited Levin to serve on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, where he studied problems ranging from modeling and predicting extreme weather to artificial intelligence’s prospects for scientific discovery, the university said. Levin earned degrees from Stanford, Oxford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“Jon has a fresh point of view, extensive knowledge of the university, and a reach that encompasses government, non-profit organizations, and global business,” Charles Young, a university trustee and member of Stanford’s presidential search committee, said in a statement Thursday. “He has breadth, curiosity, optimism, and humanity — a wonderful formula for our next president.”

Tessier-Lavigne, a neuroscientist and tenured professor in the biology department, served as president of Stanford for nearly seven years, during which time he launched the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, expanded financial aid and steered the campus through the coronavirus pandemic.

Richard Saller, a professor of European studies at Stanford, has been serving as interim president since Tessier-Lavigne’s departure.

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