Stanford
President Emeritus Marc Tessier-Lavigne President Emeritus
President Emeritus

Timeline

Marc Tessier-Lavigne served as Stanford University's president from September 1, 2016 until August 31, 2023.

2016

  • Marc Tessier-Lavigne becomes president of Stanford University on September 1.
  • In his inaugural address on October 21, President Tessier-Lavigne calls on the Stanford community to advance Stanford as a purposeful university that "promotes and celebrates excellence not as an end in itself, but as a means to magnify its benefit to society."
  • The Sapp Center for Science Teaching and Learning opens.

2017

  • Stanford launches a long-range planning process, putting out a call for ideas from the community.
  • The university breaks ground on a new campus in Redwood City.
  • The David and Joan Traitel Building is dedicated.
  • The Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford opens its new main building, more than doubling the size of the existing pediatric and obstetric hospital campus.

2018

  • A committee is appointed to recommend principles for decision-making on requests to rename campus buildings and sites named for historical figures.
  • The Long-Range Vision is announced at the annual meeting of the Academic Council in May. The vision is built on more than 2,800 ideas submitted by the community.
  • The design team process begins in September, with 23 cross-campus design teams meeting throughout the 2018-19 academic year to develop recommendations for action.
  • The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program launches.
  • Denning House is dedicated.
  • Stanford convenes the first Stanford China Economic Forum in Beijing.

2019

  • The Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence launches.
  • The Stanford Redwood City campus opens.
  • The Stanford Data Science Collaboratory launches.
  • The design team process concludes, resulting in a set of forward-looking initiatives and the creation of accelerators focused in four crucial areas: medicine, education, society, and sustainability. 
  • The Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Biology Research Building is dedicated.
  • Stanford renames two campus buildings in honor of Sally Ride and Carolyn Lewis Attneave. Serra Mall is renamed Jane Stanford Way.
  • Frost Amphitheater reopens.
  • The new Stanford Hospital opens.
  • The Arrillaga Science Center is dedicated at SLAC.

2020

  • The ChEM-H / Neuro research complex is dedicated.
  • In February, the university stands up an Emergency Operations Center in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
  • In March, public health officials announce a shelter in place order. The university announces that spring quarter courses will be taught online, and a period of remote learning and work commences for many Stanford students, faculty, and staff. 
  • The university announces enhanced support for immediate needs for students, faculty and staff, including travel expenses, stipends for food and broadband access, expansion of emergency grant-in-aid funds to support grad students and postdocs. 
  • Stanford becomes one of the first academic medical centers to launch its own COVID test, which is scaled rapidly for use across the Bay Area.
  • Stanford opens a new Biosafety level 3 lab, which quickly becomes home to more than 100 research projects related to COVID-19.
  • In April, Stanford teams with UCSF and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub to launch a large scale study of the prevalence of COVID-19 in the San Francisco Bay Area.
  • The Office of Community Engagement is established.
  • The Faculty Senate votes to approve the new “Civic, Liberal, and Global Education” (COLLEGE) first-year requirement.
  • In May, the university announces that it will create a new school focused on climate and sustainability. A faculty-led Blueprint Advisory Committee is formed to design the school.
  • Racial justice initiatives are announced, including the Community Board on Public Safety, the IDEAL Fellows program, and the Race in America faculty cluster hire.
  • In fall quarter, graduate and professional students return to campus.
  • Escondido Village Graduate Residences open.
  • The Biomedical Innovations Building is dedicated.
  • The Roelof F. Botha and Huifen Chan Building is dedicated.

2021

  • Affordability initiatives are announced, including a salary increase for staff and faculty, 100% coverage of Cardinal Care for graduate students, increased family grant programs for graduate students and postdocs, enhancements to faculty housing assistances, and a series of one-time grants for early-career, pre-tenure faculty with financial needs.
  • Residential Education announces the creation of new neighborhoods incorporating existing student housing.
  • In the spring, juniors and seniors return to campus.
  • The Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance launches.
  • The Civic, Liberal, and Global Education (COLLEGE) requirement launches as a shared experience for all first-year students.
  • In the fall, staff return to campus. The university pilots new models of flexible work for employees.
  • Ground is broken on the George P. Shultz Building.

2022

  • COLLEGE expands to a two-quarter requirement for all first-year students.
  • Stanford receives a transformational $1.1 billion gift from John and Ann Doerr to open the new Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
  • The Alexandria Center for Life Science at Stanford Research Park opens.
  • The Phil and Penny Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience launches.
  • The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability opens. 
  • The Advisory Task Force on the History of Jewish Admissions and Experience at Stanford University finds that actions to suppress the admission of Jewish students to Stanford occurred in the 1950s, and that the university for years afterward denied that this occurred. President Tessier-Lavigne issues an institutional apology and announces a series of initiatives to address the contemporary needs of the Jewish community at Stanford, including commissioning a standing Jewish advisory committee. 

2023

  • Stanford convenes the renamed Stanford Asia Economic Forum in Singapore.
  • New academic freedom initiatives are announced at the Annual Meeting of the Academic Council.
  • The King Community Court at the Knight Management Center is dedicated.
  • Ground is broken on new Graduate School of Education facilities.
  • Under Marc Tessier-Lavigne's leadership, Stanford finds a new home for its athletics programs in the Atlantic Coast Conference.