List of Stanford University Centers and Institutes
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[edit] Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
The Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (also known as Stanford AI Lab or SAIL) is the artificial intelligence (AI) research laboratory of Stanford University.
It was started in 1963 by John McCarthy, after he moved from Massachusetts Institute of Technology to Stanford. From 1965 to 1980, it was housed in the D.C. Power building (named after an executive of GTE), in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains overlooking Stanford. During this period it was one of the leading centres for AI research.
In 1980, its activities were merged into the university's Computer Science Department and it moved into Margaret Jacks Hall in the main Stanford campus.
SAIL was reopened in 2004, with Sebastian Thrun becoming its new director. SAIL's 21st century mission is to "change the way we understand the world"[1]; its researchers contribute to fields such as bioinformatics, cognition, computational geometry, computer vision, decision theory, distributed systems, game theory, general game playing, image processing, information retrieval, knowledge systems, logic, machine learning, multi-agent systems, natural language, neural networks, planning, probabilistic inference, sensor networks, and robotics[1].
[edit] Early years
The old SAIL building[2], the D.C. Power Building, was located about 5 miles (8 km) from the main campus at 1600 Arastradero Road, midway between Page Mill Road and Alpine Road. The site was on a hill overlooking Felt Lake. This area was, and remains, quite rural in nature. Combined with the rather extreme 1960s architecture of the place[2], this remote setting led to a certain isolation. Some people who worked there reported feeling as if they were already in the future. Unfortunately, the building was damaged during the Loma Prieta earthquake and the university decided to level the site. Today, the site is home to Portola Pastures and is part of the Arastradero Open Space Preserve.
SAIL alumni played a major role in many Silicon Valley firms, becoming founders of now-large firms such as Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems as well as smaller companies such as Vicarm Inc. (acquired by Unimation), Foonly, Imagen, Xidex, Valid Logic Systems[3], and D.E. Shaw & Co. Research accomplishments at SAIL were many, including in the fields of speech recognition and robotics.
SAIL also created the WAITS operating system[3]. At SAIL, WAITS ran on various models of Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-10 computers, starting with the PDP-6, then the KA10 and KL10. WAITS also ran on Foonly systems at CCRMA and LLL. At one time, the SAIL system was a triple processor KL10/KA10/PDP-6. The SAIL system was shut down in 1991[3].
SAIL, the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Language, was developed by Dan Swinehart and Bob Sproull of the Stanford AI Lab in 1970[4].
[edit] Stanford Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
The Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (CES) at Stanford University is a multidisciplinary business oriented program targeted to both undergraduate and graduate students. It incorporates courses from Stanford University School of Engineering and Stanford Graduate School of Business. It also incorporates Stanford Mayfield Scholars Program that seeks to give select undergraduate students an opportunity to take business related coursework and to intern in high tech startups. CES has been founded by Tom Byers.
[edit] Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics
The Stanford University Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), founded by John Chowning, is a multi-discipline facility where composers and researchers work together using computer-based technology both as an artistic medium and as a research tool. CCRMA's director is Chris Chafe. CCRMA's current faculty includes a mix of musicians and engineers including Julius Smith, Jonathan Berger, Max Mathews (emeritus), Ge Wang, Tom Rossing, Jonathan Abel, Marina Bossi, David Berners, Jay Kadis, Fernando Lopez-Lezcano and Bill Verplank.
[edit] The Knoll
Almost 100 years ago, this Spanish Gothic residence, known as the Knoll, was originally built as a residence for the University's President. In 1946, the building became home to the Music Department, and then in 1986, CCRMA took over residency.
Damaged in 1989 during the Loma Prieta earthquake, the Knoll nonetheless housed CCRMA in its damaged condition until a complete internal reconstruction between 2004 - 2005. The reopening of the facility was celebrated in the Spring of 2005 with the CCRMA: newStage Festival. This unique building now comprise several state-of-the-art music studios and top-notch research facilities, hosting a variety of students, artists and scientists.
CCRMA is affiliated with the Center for Computer Assisted Research in the Humanities (CCARH), also located at Stanford. CCARH conducts research on constructing computer databases for music and on creating programs that allow researchers to access, analyze, print, and electronically perform the music.
[edit] Center for the Study of Language and Information
The Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI) is an independent research center at Stanford University. Founded in 1983 by philosophers, computer scientists, linguists, and psychologists from Stanford, SRI International, and Xerox PARC, it strives to study all forms of information and improve how humans and computers acquire and process it.
CSLI was initially funded by a US$15 million grant from the System Development Foundation (SDF) for the Situated Language Project, the name of which reflects the strong influence of the work on situation semantics by philosophers John Perry and Jon Barwise, two of the initial leaders of CSLI. This funding supported operations for the first few years as well as the construction of Cordura Hall. Subsequent funding has come from research grants and from an industrial affiliates program.
CSLI's publications branch, founded and still headed by Dikran Karagueuzian, has grown into an important publisher of work in linguistics and related fields. Researchers associated with CSLI include Ronald Kaplan, the mathematicians Keith Devlin (current Executive Director) and Solomon Feferman, the linguists Ivan Sag and Joan Bresnan, psychologist Herb Clark, B. J. Fogg and Clifford Nass.
CSLI produces the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
[edit] Directors
- Jon Barwise 1983-1985
- John Perry 1985-1986, 1993-1999
- John Etchemendy 1990-1993
- Stanley Peters
- Byron Reeves
- Thomas Wasow 2006-
[edit] Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies is a conglomerate of research centers at Stanford University in Stanford, California.
The institute is composed of four research centers:
- Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC)
- Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL)
- Center for Health Policy, Primary Care and Outcomes Research (CHP/PCOR)
- Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC)
[edit] History
Founded in 1983 as the Institute for International Studies, IIS added Stanford to the beginning of its name in 2003, and is abbreviated as Stanford IIS. On September 1, 2005 Stanford IIS was renamed the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies due to $50 million donation to the Institute from Brad Freeman and Ron Spogli, and is now abbreviated as FSI. IIS was founded by former Stanford President Richard Wall Lyman, who became its first director.
In addition to its five centers, the Institute sponsors various programs such as the Program on Energy & Sustainable Development, European Forum, Initiative on Distance Learning, and the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education.
The current director of FSI is Coit D. Blacker, who served as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council under National Security Advisor Anthony Lake.
The deputy director's post was vacated in February 2005, when Stephen D. Krasner left to become Director of Policy Planning at the State Department under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Secretary of Defense William Perry are among the faculty members of FSI.
[edit] Hoover Institute
[edit] Hopkins Marine Station
Hopkins Marine Station is the marine laboratory of Stanford University. It is located ninety miles south of the university's main campus, in Pacific Grove, California (USA) on the Monterey Peninsula, adjacent to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is home to nine research laboratories and a fluctuating population of graduate and undergraduate students.
[edit] History
Hopkins Marine Station was founded in 1892, making it the oldest marine laboratory on the US Pacific Coast, and the second-oldest in the US, after Cold Spring Harbor. It was originally named the Hopkins Seaside Laboratory and located on what is now called Lover's Point. In 1917, the laboratory was moved to its current location on Mussel/China/Cabrillo Point, and given its current name: Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University. The marine station's namesake is Timothy Hopkins, the founder of the city of Palo Alto and an early supporter of Stanford University, not Johns Hopkins, founder of the Johns Hopkins University. The marine station is not affiliated with the latter.
[edit] Hopkins Marine Life Refuge
In 1931, the State of California adopted legislation designating the intertidal and subtidal areas around Hopkins Marine Station as the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge. The collection of marine invertebrates or plants is forbidden without a scientific collecting permit. The HMLR is the second-oldest Marine Life Refuge in California, after the San Diego Marine Life Refuge of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. More recent legislation has been enacted to prevent chemical and thermal pollution of the water, to extend the boundaries of the refuge, and to prohibit the collection of fish, as well as invertebrates and plants, without a scientific collecting permit.
[edit] Research at Hopkins
Scientists at the marine station pursue research in a diverse range of biological fields, including biomechanics, biochemistry, developmental biology, neurobiology, ecology, evolution, and genetics. Studies utilize a great variety of organisms, but certain particularly useful and/or charismatic critters, such as mussels, squid, tuna, tunicates, sea urchins, and mudsuckers, have been the focus of continued research efforts.
From 1963 to 1968, the station operated the research vessel R/V Te Vega, which sailed the Pacific and the Indian Ocean undertaking various studies, most notably of the Deep Scattering Layer. Data from the twenty Te Vega research voyages are still cited today, and one reference work opines that, "[a]lthough ships from several nations participated in the Indian Ocean Expedition, only one has contributed significantly to marine phycology, namely, the Te Vega [...]."[5]
Some past and present researchers at Hopkins Marine Station: Cornelius Van Niel, Donald P. Abbott, Isabella Abbott, Colin Pittendrigh, Lawrence Blinks, David Epel, George Somero, William Gilly, Dennis Powers, Chuck Baxter, James Watanabe, Fiorenza Micheli, Mark Denny, Tony DeTomaso, Stephen Palumbi, Barbara Block, Stuart Thompson.
[edit] Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve
The Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve is a 1,200 acre (5 km²) plot of land owned by Stanford University, located at [6] on Sand Hill Road near Interstate 280 in Portola Valley, California. It is used by students, researchers, and docents to conduct biology research, and teach the community about the importance of that research. The preserve encompasses Jasper Ridge and Searsville Lake (actually a reservoir) and the upper reaches of San Francisquito Creek.
[edit] Geological history
Serpentine (Serpentinite) is the California State Rock. It was formed from deep sea or mantle rocks. This rock was squeezed toward the surface by tectonic plate movement, and thus feels greasy, as it has been polished over millions of years.
Graywacke Sandstone after crossing Leonard's Bridge. This sandstone was part of the Franciscan formation 138 M years ago.
Some rocks found at the preserve include: Greenstone, Chert, Serpentinite, Sandstone.
[edit] Global change experiment
The Global Change Experiment studies the response of California annual grassland to global change, including elevated atmospheric CO2, temperature, altered precipitation, and increased nitrogen deposition.
[edit] Argentine ant invasion
This project studies and tracks the Argentine ants, an invasive species.
[edit] Bat monitoring
A station near the lake monitors bats at night, by converting and recording bat sounds (ultrasonic echolocation).
[edit] Stanford Humanities Center
The Stanford Humanities Center is an institution of advanced humanities research located at Stanford University, Stanford, CA, U.S.A. Founded in 1980, it is an integral part of Stanford’s internationally renowned research community, bringing together scholars from across disciplinary boundaries to work on projects that advance understanding of human experience.
[edit] Mission Statement
The Stanford Humanities Center sponsors advanced research into the historical, philosophical, and cultural dimensions of human experience. The Center’s research workshops, fellowships, and public events contribute to the intellectual and creative life of the University, foster innovative scholarship and teaching, and enrich the community’s understanding of what it means to be human.
[edit] History
The Stanford Humanities Center was founded in 1980 to spearhead new initiatives in humanities research at Stanford, as the result of one of former Stanford President Donald Kennedy's first acts in office. The Humanities Center's early goals remain central to its mission. These include: providing state-of-the-art research and writing facilities for humanities scholars; initiating studies that examine the nature and function of the humanities; focusing on interdisciplinary issues; and contributing to the intellectual life of the Stanford community as a whole through lectures, seminars, conferences, and research workshops.
In 1980, Ian Watt was named first director, and by 1982-83 the Humanities Center had welcomed its first thirteen fellows. Since then, it has undergone several notable changes, including the introduction of the research workshops by Director Keith Baker in 1995. To accommodate the continuing expansion of the Stanford Humanities Center, it moved in September 2001 from the Mariposa and Rogers Houses and the Annex — originally private residences — to the newly vacated Bowman House (which had been home to the Alumni Association), where it remains today. To supplement the fellowships already offered to high-level scholars, the Center introduced undergraduate research assistant fellowships in the same year to provide resources for advanced humanities students. The Center’s Humanities Archive Lab, a computer lab that offers easy access to the tools necessary to produce digital content, opened in 2004, in accordance with the increasing emphasis on the digital humanities.
The Center has now grown into a veritable research hub, with up to thirty fellowships awarded every year, almost twenty year-long research workshops, numerous public events, and new digital initiatives.
[edit] Fellowships
The Stanford Humanities Center offers numerous fellowships to Stanford faculty, Stanford graduate students, external faculty, and, beginning in 2001, Stanford undergraduates. Since its founding in 1980, the Center has awarded external fellowships to more than 550 faculty from nearly 100 universities in the United States and in other countries. It also offers six to eight internal fellowships annually to Stanford faculty and approximately eight Geballe Dissertation Fellowships to Stanford graduate students. Finally, it offers research assistant fellowships to advanced undergraduate students, fostering communications between the Humanities Center and the Stanford undergraduate community.
[edit] Research Workshops
Begun in 1995 by former Director Keith Baker, Research Workshops at the Stanford Humanities Center strive to support the development of humanistic research and teaching. These workshops bring together faculty and advanced graduate students at Stanford, as well as scholars from other institutions, to present their research and explore topics of common intellectual concern. One major aspect of the workshops is the unique interdisciplinary engagements that explore a multitude of research topics, encouraging faculty in their research efforts and training graduate students to participate in scholarly dialogues.
[edit] Public Events and Lectures
The Stanford Humanities Center also offers a number of public events and lectures. The renowned Presidential Lectures were established in 1998 and are funded by the President’s Office and endowments. Administered under the auspices of the Humanities Center, they have brought distinguished scholars, artists, and critics to Stanford for a variety of interactions with faculty, students, and the community at large. Speakers have included Isabel Allende, Roger Chartier, Stephen Jay Gould, Douglas Hofstadter, and Gayatri Spivak, among other well-known scholars.
Public events also include other endowed lectures and the New Directions series, as well as events co-sponsored with other organizations. The New Directions lectures strive to present future trends in humanities research, and in particular the ways in which research is changing with advances in information technology.
[edit] Governance
The administrative structure of the Stanford Humanities Center is as follows:
- Director: Appointed by the Provost of the University, the Director is the chief executive officer of the Center and reports to the Dean of Research. Normally the appointment of the Director will be for not more than two three-year terms.
- Associate Director: Appointed by the Director, subject to the approval of the Dean of Research. Normally the appointment of the Associate Director will be for not more than two three-year terms.
- Advisory Board: Appointed by the Provost, the Advisory Board consists of up to twenty members. Members include representatives of the Stanford faculty, and scholars from outside the university. It may also include public members from the wider Stanford community and the fields of philanthropy and public service. Terms of office on the Advisory Board will normally be for three years, renewable once.
[edit] Directors
- Ian P. Watt, 1980-1985
- Bliss Carnochan, 1985-1991
- Herbert Lindenberger, 1991-1992 (interim)
- Wanda Corn, 1992-1995
- Keith Baker, 1995-2000
- Peter Stansky, 2000-2001
- John Bender, 2001-present
[edit] See also
- MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
- IRCAM
- Planet CCRMA, an alternate distribution of the Fedora Core Linux distribution that greatly improves its suitability for high-performance audio.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Official website for the Stanford AI Laboratory
- ^ a b Photos of SAIL places and people
- ^ a b c The autobiography of SAIL, a copy of a 1991 email about SAIL, from a Stanford website
- ^ Entry for Stanford Artificial Intelligence Language from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
- ^ In: CATALOGUE OF THE BENTHIC MARINE ALGAE OF THE INDIAN OCEAN (Univ. California Press, 1996)
- ^ USGS GNIS: Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve
1. "History of Algal Exploration in the Indian Ocean." In: Silva, Basson & Moe, Catalogue of the Benthic Marine Algae of the Indian Ocean. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996.
[edit] External links
- SAIL homepage
- Oral history interviews with Terry Winograd, Raj Reddy, Bruce Buchanan and Allen Newell. Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
- CCRMA homepage: http://ccrma.stanford.edu/
- Searchable CCRMA archive: http://www.nabble.com/CCRMA-f2875.html
- CSLI's website
- Official Web Site of FSI
- Main website
- Main website
- Stanford Humanities Center
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