Stanford University

Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a <a href="/facts/Private_university/KHHzGNID">private</a> <a href="/facts/Research_university/Joe4e6SF">research university</a> in <a href="/facts/Stanford,_California/dWxeuJec">Stanford, California</a>, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate <a href="/facts/Leland_Stanford/znwAfgB8">Leland Stanford</a>, the eighth <a href="/facts/List_of_governors_of_California/bucr9bL2">governor</a> of and then-incumbent <a href="/facts/List_of_United_States_senators_from_California/8urnTrt7">senator from California</a>, and his wife, <a href="/facts/Jane_Stanford/Gx6XQYpT">Jane</a>, in memory of their only child, <a href="/facts/Leland_Stanford_Jr./61hTBQQN">Leland Jr</a>. 
The university admitted its first students in 1891, opening as a <a href="/facts/Mixed-sex_education/TCNhIwrJ">coeducational</a> and <a href="/facts/Non-denominational/1Sjaxs3l">non-denominational</a> institution. It struggled financially after Leland died in 1893 and again after much of the campus was damaged by the <a href="/facts/1906_San_Francisco_earthquake/A4cKLx4E">1906 San Francisco earthquake</a>. Following <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>, university <a href="/facts/Provost_(education)/C0cKfIKM">provost</a> <a href="/facts/Frederick_Terman/RlrzbYpd">Frederick Terman</a> inspired an <a href="/facts/Entrepreneurship/gr8E0Su2">entrepreneurial culture</a> to build a self-sufficient local industry (later <a href="/facts/Silicon_Valley/gdot9J7e">Silicon Valley</a>). In 1951, the <a href="/facts/Stanford_Research_Park/FbBCLt74">Stanford Research Park</a> was established in <a href="/facts/Palo_Alto/KJpC7kd8">Palo Alto</a> and is the world's first university research park. By 2021, the university had 2,288 tenure-line faculty, senior fellows, center fellows, and medical faculty on staff.
The university is organized around seven schools of study on an 8,180-acre (3,310-hectare) campus, one of the largest in the nation. It houses the <a href="/facts/Hoover_Institution/TLMKp8LW">Hoover Institution</a>, a public policy <a href="/facts/Think_tank/xl9t8HmC">think tank</a>, and is <a href="/facts/Carnegie_Classification_of_Institutions_of_Higher_Education/xyYmXgJ6">classified</a> among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". Students compete in 36 varsity sports, and the university is one of eight private institutions in the <a href="/facts/Atlantic_Coast_Conference/I2rTzAcD">Atlantic Coast Conference</a> (ACC). Stanford has won 131 <a href="/facts/National_Collegiate_Athletic_Association/nLkY4pm1">NCAA</a> team championships, and was awarded the <a href="/facts/NACDA_Directors%27_Cup/cvGoYSoJ">NACDA Directors' Cup</a> for 25 consecutive years, beginning in 1994. Students and alumni have won <a href="/facts/List_of_American_universities_with_Olympic_medals/cQvTJfq2">302 Olympic medals (including 153 gold)</a>.
The university is associated with <a href="/facts/List_of_universities_by_number_of_billionaire_alumni/FprxTfVV">74 living billionaires</a>, 58 <a href="/facts/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_university_affiliation/uBHjl7t1">Nobel laureates</a>, 33 <a href="/facts/MacArthur_Fellow/2nF5hIJh">MacArthur Fellows</a>, 29 <a href="/facts/Turing_Award/HbEEp0GF">Turing Award</a> winners, as well as 7 <a href="/facts/Wolf_Foundation_Prize/PCztKgn8">Wolf Foundation Prize</a> recipients, 2 Supreme Court Justices of the United States, and 4 <a href="/facts/Pulitzer_Prize/wD4PN6Xs">Pulitzer Prize</a> winners. Additionally, its alumni include many <a href="/facts/Fulbright_Scholars/94E6ee46">Fulbright Scholars</a>, <a href="/facts/Marshall_Scholars/MRQ8TNua">Marshall Scholars</a>, <a href="/facts/Gates_Cambridge_Scholars/yRot9EK4">Gates Cambridge Scholars</a>, <a href="/facts/Rhodes_Scholars/aVf26dt3">Rhodes Scholars</a>, and members of the <a href="/facts/United_States_Congress/mJlU46K7">United States Congress</a>.

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Stanford University