President Barack Obama plans to nominate political science professor Michael McFaul ‘86 M.A. ‘86 to the post of U.S. ambassador to Russia. Pending confirmation by the Senate, McFaul will succeed John Beyrle, who assumed the role of ambassador in 2008.

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The 2011-12 budget will allot different shares of monies to the University’s academic, administrative and auxiliary units. Among these units, the School of Medicine is expected to have the largest share of consolidated expenses next year. Provost John Etchemendy Ph.D. ’82 formally presented his budget plan at the May 26 meeting of the Faculty Senate.…

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White House officials said President Barack Obama plans to nominate political science professor Michael McFaul ’86 M.A. ‘86 to the post of U.S. ambassador to Russia. Pending confirmation by the Senate, McFaul will succeed John Beyrle, who assumed the role of ambassador in 2008. Officials said Obama informed the Russian president, Dmitri Medvedev, of his…

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Faculty composition and the 2011-12 University budget plan were the focal points of the May 26 meeting of the Faculty Senate.

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According to the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS), multiple shots were fired in the Lagunita parking lot at 7:17 p.m. on the evening of Saturday, May 14. The authorities have since detained and questioned possible suspects and reported that no one was injured

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The Study of Undergraduate Education at Stanford (SUES) served as the focal point of Thursday’s Faculty Senate meeting. History professor James Campbell ‘83 Ph.D. ‘89 and biology professor Susan McConnell, who jointly chair SUES, delivered a presentation on the shortcomings of the undergraduate curriculum and general solutions to these shortcomings.

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In recent years, the conversation on medical advances has brought forth a striking observation: new medical treatments have emerged in low numbers despite simultaneous increases in research funding and published findings. Critics blame these stagnant numbers on a lack of translational research at the national level--Stanford, however, stands out as an exception to this trend.

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Up to this point, scientists have encountered a practical hurdle in the production of clean hydrogen fuel: the lack of cheap and abundant catalysts that can expedite the generation of hydrogen and oxygen. Recent findings by chemical engineering professor Jens Norskov and his peers may effectively overcome this hurdle.

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Among members of the Stanford community, the demise of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden carried great significance.

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The Faculty Senate approved a new interdisciplinary program in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine (SCBRM) in a unanimous voice vote on Thursday. The SCBRM program seeks a five-year trial period beginning Sept. 11, 2011 through Aug. 31, 2016.

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Professor of Medicine Alan Garber M.D. ‘83 will sport crimson rather than cardinal this fall as he takes on the role of provost at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.

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President John Hennessy delivered his annual address to the Academic Council on Thursday afternoon at the Jen-Hsun Huang Engineering Center. At the meeting, the president touched upon the state of finances and development on the Farm before launching an hour-long discussion on Stanford’s proposed New York City Applied Sciences Research and Educational Campus.

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The Farm serves as a converging place today for 20 Russian and 20 American student delegates who are participating in the second annual Stanford U.S.-Russia Forum (SURF). According to SURF co-founder Anda Gansca ’11, SURF aims to build and improve U.S.-Russian relations by providing “a forum for open conversation between Russian and American students.”

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Vice Provost for Student Affairs Greg Boardman declined Kappa Sigma’s appeal on Monday, upholding Residential Education’s decision to revoke the fraternity’s housing for the coming academic year. The chapter will have a chance to apply for reinstatement in January 2012 as part of a formal relevancy presentation to a review panel.

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Three topics of discussion took the spotlight at the Faculty Senate’s Mar. 31 meeting: the Stanford Research Center at Beijing, earthquake preparedness and innovative curriculum design.

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After the University stripped Kappa Sigma of its on-campus housing at the end of winter quarter, the fraternity has begun the appeals process to reverse that decision.

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Michael Samuels ’11 was anointed as the new Tree just after 3 a.m. on Thursday.

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The Stanford Student Store opened the doors to its new home in Tresidder Union today. Preparations for the store’s launch have been in the works since summer of 2010 and will culminate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon.

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The Faculty Senate convened Thursday afternoon to discuss three topics: the possibility of a New York City campus dedicated to engineering and computer science; the impact of the Health Care Reform Bill on faculty and staff members and the future of the University’s libraries.

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ASSU President Angelina Cardona ‘11 submitted a bill yesterday to the Undergraduate Senate and Graduate Student Council naming Michael Cruz ‘12 as the new vice president. The Undergraduate Senate and Graduate Student Council will vote to confirm the nomination this week.

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The Board of Trustees approved a combined tuition, room and board increase of 3.5 percent for the 2011-2012 academic year. This rise will be applied across the University, with the exception of Stanford Law School, which will see a 5.75-percent hike in its fees.

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The Faculty Senate convened Feb. 3 to address three topics: declining interest in the humanities, the opening of the new Graduate School of Business campus and student mental health.

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Legacy applicants have better odds of admission at elite colleges than previously estimated, shows a recent study by Michael Hurwitz, a doctoral candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

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