Stanford University facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Stanford University
	Campus from above
Motto	Die Luft der Freiheit weht
Type	Private
Established	1891
Endowment	$17.2 billion
President	John L. Hennessy
Administrative staff	1,771
Students	14,945
Undergraduates	6,759
Postgraduates	8,186
Location	Stanford , California , United States
Campus	Suburban
Athletics	NCAA Division I FBS
Nickname	Cardinal
Mascot	Cardinal
Website	www.stanford.edu

Not to be confused with Samford University.

The Leland Stanford Junior University, often called Stanford University (or simply Stanford), is a private university next to Palo Alto in California, in the middle of Silicon Valley, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco and about 20 miles northwest of San José, in Santa Clara County. Leland and Jane Stanford opened the university on 1 October 1891. They named the university after their son, Leland Stanford Junior, who died at young age.

With one of the largest university campuses in the United States, the University includes the Schools of Engineering, Law, Medicine, Education, Business, Earth Sciences, and Humanities and Sciences. Stanford also hosts volunteer programs and a teaching hospital.

History

Leland Stanford Junior died in Europe in 1884. His parents, Leland and Jane Stanford, were rich and influential Californians. They chose to turn a farm they already owned into a large university, as a memorial to their curious son. Stanford had early trouble, as the school ran low on money, and was hurt by the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

Herbert Hoover, who later became the US President, helped the school improve its operations, and later university leaders pushed students and alumni to develop the surrounding area. By the 1950's, cities around Stanford University were filling with technology companies, starting what became Silicon Valley.

Campus

Stanford has many special areas. In honor of Stanford graduate and US president Herbert Hoover, Stanford hosts a large think tank and archive called the Hoover Institution. Many former students, like the founders of HP, donate lots of money and have buildings named after them. A large radio telescope called "The Dish" sits on the hills above Stanford.

Student Body

Stanford has about 7,000 undergraduate students, and a larger number of students working on advanced degrees. Few high school students who apply to Stanford are accepted - over the last several years, only four out of every hundred students who applied were offered a spot.

People who worked at or graduated from Stanford University

People who graduated from Stanford University are:

Nicolas Sadirac (1989), founder and current head of the École pour l'informatique et les nouvelles technologies

People who have worked at Stanford are:

Mary Sheldon Barnes

Related pages

Volunteers in Asia - American non-profit organization closely related to Stanford

Images for kids

Center of the campus in 1891.
An aerial photograph of the center of the Stanford University campus in 2008.
Walkway in the Main Quad
Hoover Tower, inspired by the cathedral tower at Salamanca in Spain
Green Library
Gate to the Main Quad
The new Stanford Stadium, site of home football games.
Vintage Stanford University postcard
Interior of the Stanford Memorial Church at the center of the Main Quad
Lou Henry Hoover House, official residence of the University President
The original Golden spike on display at the Cantor Arts Museum at Stanford University
Stanford Quad with Memorial Church in the background
White Memorial Fountain (The Claw)
31st President of the United States Herbert Hoover (BA, 1895)
Former Associate Justice of the United States Sandra Day O'Connor (BA, 1950)
Astronaut and physicist Sally Ride (MS, 1975; PhD, 1978)
Venture capitalist billionaire Peter Thiel (BA, 1989; JD, 1992)