Skip to content Skip to navigation

Navigating a Dynamic Future

A Vision For Stanford

Since its founding, Stanford’s pioneering spirit has embraced new ways of fulfilling its mission of research, education, and service. Today, we face a future of both promise and peril, marked by a breathtaking pace of change. We need new thinking and new approaches to anticipate and navigate this change, in order to deepen knowledge, address challenges and accelerate our contributions to society. By tapping into the wisdom of our campus community, alumni, and outside perspectives, Stanford leadership has developed a vision to guide our shared journey over the next decade and beyond.

Last spring, the president and provost shared the vision and its initiatives with the Stanford community. Over the summer, our Executive Cabinet created a flexible framework and process to build out the vision initiatives during this academic year. They also appointed team chairs for each initiative. 

We are grateful to the individuals who have agreed to volunteer to chair the design teams and discovery teams. They are identified on the initiative pages. Team members and further information about each initiative will be posted shortly.

Home

Overview

Design Teams Video Series

Mission & Values: IDEAL

Education: ResX, First Year: Exploration and Shared Intellectual Experiences, Future of the Major

Research & Supporting the Foundation

Stanford Vision Initiatives

Our vision initiatives fall across five key areas:

Stanford Quad at Sunset

Mission & Values

We will ground ourselves in our fundamental values and ensure ethical and purposeful engagement with our community and the world at all times.
Learn more
Supporting the Foundation

Supporting the Foundation

We will continue to strengthen our support of fundamental research and deep scholarship to understand ourselves and the world around us. 

Learn more
Education

Education

We will equip students for a world of change by preparing them to think broadly, deeply and critically, and to contribute to society. We will magnify our educational contribution by further increasing access, by advancing the science of learning, and by extending our reach beyond our campus.

Learn more
Stanford Research: Carla Shatz

Research

We will create more nimble structures and resources to empower our researchers to take on urgent problems, and we will renew focus on fundamental research in all fields, accelerate applications for social problem-solving and medicine, magnify solutions for sustainability and health, and shape the digital future. 

Learn more
Stanford community

Community

We will provide the necessary foundation for our journey by promoting an inspired, inclusive and collaborative community of diverse scholars, students and staff, where all are supported and empowered to thrive.

Learn more

Our Path Forward

Arrow pointing right

Vision launched

After engaging the community in a year-long planning process, Stanford identified initiatives and set priorities for the future.

May 2018

Arrow pointing right

Design Phase

The Executive Cabinet developed a process framework and appointed design team and discovery team leaders.

June – September 2018

Teams for each initiative will engage, gather input and recommend specific plans.

October 2018 – June 2019

Arrow

Execution Phase

Our community will implement the vision.

2019 academic year and beyond

Learn more about the Stanford Vision

Vision Fact Sheet

The Stanford Vision at-a-glance

Vision Presentation

President Tessier-Lavigne's presentation on the Stanford Vision

SUNet ID only

Vision News

News and updates about the Stanford Vision process.

“A purposeful university promotes and celebrates excellence as a means to magnify its benefit to society.”

Marc Tessier-Lavigne

President