Presidential Search
Jonathan Levin named Stanford president
April 4, 2024
Dear Stanford community,
We’re very pleased to share with you that the Board of Trustees has appointed Jonathan Levin, dean of Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, as Stanford University’s 13th president. Jon will step into this role on August 1, 2024.
Over the past seven months, the Presidential Search Committee has led a comprehensive search for Stanford’s next president. To organize this search, we held more than 50 listening sessions on campus last fall, administered surveys to the Stanford community, facilitated an email input process, and interviewed external thought leaders.
More than 800 individuals were nominated, leading to deep engagement with a remarkable pool of candidates. This group showcased a wide range of experiences, perspectives, and qualities that reflected the rich diversity of our community.
Through our listening tour, you, the Stanford community, shared your hopes and aspirations for our next president. We compiled your feedback into guidance that we used to inform our search, as outlined in this letter.
You emphasized that Stanford needs a president who will prioritize and invest in excellence in our mission of research, teaching, and clinical care. You called for a president who understands this moment for higher education: a leader who can make the case for Stanford as a place of cutting-edge discovery and forward-looking innovation. You emphasized that our next president should have a deep understanding of Stanford, our diverse community, and our culture of optimism, boldness, and possibility. You also shared that the next president should be a person who possesses strong academic credentials and qualities of openness, integrity, and a balance of emotional and intellectual intelligence.
From an outstanding slate of final candidates, Jon Levin emerged as the person who best embodies these traits and values.
Jon has a proven track record at the GSB, where he made major investments in the school’s mission, including investing in shared resources, direct faculty funding, student financial aid, and more. He is an influential voice in higher education and beyond. As dean, he has excelled at bringing people together and exhibited a deep commitment to building a pluralistic and respectful community. He has highlighted the university’s impact on key issues of the day, like sustainability, the effects of technology, and the strength of democratic institutions.
Most of all, as an undergraduate alum, faculty member, and dean of the GSB, Jon has a deep knowledge of and love for Stanford. He understands that Stanford is a place of possibility, of exploration and innovation. He understands the university’s culture, its unique blend of intellectual rigor with irreverence and fun.
We were also thoroughly impressed by Jon’s personal qualities of integrity, humility, thoughtfulness, and optimism. We are confident that he is the right person not only to envision where Stanford can go, but to take us there.
We want to take this opportunity to thank the Stanford community for your participation and support throughout this process. Your insights and perspectives gave definition to the needs and expectations for this role. Thank you for working with us to shape Stanford’s future.
Sincerely,
Bonnie Maldonado
Lily Sarafan
Gene Sykes
Stanford Presidential Search Committee Co-Chairs
News & Updates
Presidential Search Committee
The committee includes faculty members, undergraduate and graduate students, a postdoctoral scholar, staff, and trustees, who will seek community input and provide a recommendation to the full Board of Trustees for consideration. Collectively, these individuals bring a deep understanding of Stanford and our strengths—including our commitment to excellence and integrity in research, education, and clinical care—and how we can build on these strengths for the future.
Leadership
Lily Sarafan (co-chair)
Trustee, BS ’03 Science, Technology, and Society; MS ’03 Management Science and Engineering; Co-Founder and Executive Chair, TheKey
Gene Sykes (co-chair)
Trustee, MBA ’84; Managing Director, Goldman Sachs; Chair, US Olympic and Paralympic Committee
Bonnie Maldonado (co-chair)
Faculty; Senior Associate Dean, Faculty Development and Diversity; Taube Professor of Global Health and Infectious Diseases; Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases) and of Epidemiology and Population Health; MD ’81
Trustees
Felix Baker
BS ’91 Biology; PhD ’98, Immunology; Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Baker Brothers Investments
Kate Duhamel
BS ’83 Human Biology; MBA ’88; Executive Producer and Founder, CandyBomber Productions
José Feliciano
MBA ’99; Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Clearlake Capital Group LP
Nadia Rawlinson
BA ’01 History; Corporate Board Director
Jerry Yang
BS ’90, Electrical Engineering; MS ’90 Electrical Engineering; Founding Partner of AME Cloud Ventures
Charles Young
BA ’91 Economics; MBA ’03; Chief Operating Officer, Invitation Homes
Faculty
Jennifer Aaker
The General Atlantic Professor at the Graduate School of Business; PhD ’95, Marketing
Tom Dee
Barnett Family Professor at the Graduate School of Education, Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and, by courtesy, at the Hoover Institution
Tom Kenny
Senior Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Richard W. Weiland Professor in the School of Engineering
Wendy Mao
Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, of Photon Science and, by courtesy, of Geophysics
Mary Beth Mudgett
Senior Associate Dean for the Natural Sciences and Professor of Biology – ex officio non-voting member as Faculty Senate chair
Debra Satz
Vernon R. and Lysbeth Warren Anderson Dean of the School of H&S; the Marta Sutton Weeks Professor of Ethics in Society and Professor, by courtesy, of Political Science
George Triantis
Senior Associate Vice Provost for Research and the Charles J. Meyers Professor of Law and Business
Students
Senkai Hsia
Undergraduate student, BA ‘24 International Relations; BS ’24 Mechanical Engineering; MS ’25 Mechanical Engineering
Carson Smith
Graduate student, BA ’19 Political Science; JD ’25
Postdoc
Julia Abitbol
Department of Otolaryngology, School of Medicine
Staff
Patrick Dunkley
Vice Provost for Institutional Equity, Access & Community
Note: Only Stanford degrees are listed above.