Stanford University - Quad Yearbook (Palo Alto, CA)

Page 29 text:

TWO STANFORD PRESIDENTS Bv Orrin Leslie Elliott RAY LYMAN WILBUR President of Stanford University since 1916 When Dr. Wilbur became president, Stanford universitv had reached something Hke an im- passe. With nothing- fundamentally wrong, the engines had about ceased working. The available income had apparently reached its maximum, with increased expenditure a necessity. When Dr. Wilbur took command, the good ship was si)eedily gotten under way. There were no more divided counsels. New sources of income were found, and expansions immediately projected. Dr. Wilbur ' s administration, still in its early stages, has been one of ceaseless activity and vigorous growth. A mere enumeration of some of the striking headlines will indicate its sub- stantial contribution to the greater Stanford that is clearly foreshadowed: the library build- ing-, the three modern dormitories, the new Union, the stadium and basketball pavilion, the Food Research institute, the Hoover War library, the increase in salaries, the expansion of depart- ments, the support of research, the beautifying of the grounds, the four-(iuarter system, the limitation of entering men, the lower division. The President is mak- ing good. DAVID STARR JORDAN President of Stanford Uni-t ' ersity, 1S91 to 191S Before Dr. Jordan there existed the outline of a university, broadly planned, and a material foundation uniquely beautiful. Stanford uni- versity was set going by a band of argonauts, in an atmosphere of romance, of the golden fleece just over the heights. Dr. Jordan was the fit leader for such an enterprise — unconventional, daring, resourceful. His was the dominating ])ersonality. He gave to the university its free- dom of outlook, its keynote of simplicity, its fearlessness in following the truth. The teacher was not to be directed by others. The student was a partner in the quest for knowledge. Rules were means to orderliness, not masters to be served. For twenty-two years it was Dr. Jor- dan ' s task to carry on in this spirit, through evil fortune and good fortune, through vicissitudes of every sort, to amend, to adapt, to retrench, to expand, as the occasion demanded, but al- ways to go forward. The essential Stanford, the essential Stanford spirit — these are fundamentally the creation of David Starr Jordan. 27