University President Richard Saller announced the formation of an initiative aimed at “reducing burdens and improving timeliness” for faculty members, at the Faculty Senate’s final meeting of the fall quarter.
“Over the past three months, I’ve heard from many faculty about the burdens on their time of University processes,” Saller said. “I believe that our most valuable asset is faculty time and effort.”
Saller said that he had initiated a review of University processes along with Provost Jenny Martinez, and that Vice President for Business Affairs and Chief Financial Officer Randy Livingston ’75 MBA ’79 and Vice Provost and Dean of Research David Studdert had “begun the review in their respective areas.”
Former Stanford provost John Etchemendy will act as a senior adviser to the review. The group will “collect the suggestions and make recommendations to the executive cabinet and senior staff by the end of the quarter,” Saller said.
Saller also reminded faculty that campus safety resources are available “to maintain safety and well-being in the campus community,” referencing the newly established committees on antisemitism and Islamophobia announced earlier this week. Students have reported multiple antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes to the Stanford University Department of Public Safety over the past few weeks.
Memorial resolutions
Memorial resolutions were introduced at the Faculty Senate for professor emeritus of microbiology and immunology Hugh O. McDevitt ’52, who passed away in 2022 at the age of 91, and professor emeritus of medicine Ernlé W. D. Young, who passed away at 88 in 2021. Senior Associate Dean Mary Beth Mudgett, who serves as chair of the Faculty Senate, asked for a moment of silence after each resolution was read.
Professor of medicine C. Garrison Fathman delivered the resolution for McDevitt, which recognized the numerous awards he had won for his research in immunology, and that he had been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of London.
“He was charming, had a magnetic personality [and] he had a way with encouraging and inspiring young people,” Fathman said.
Professor Thomas A. Raffin ’68 MD ’73 delivered the resolution for Young. Raffin described Young’s early years as an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa, during which he was pursued by the secret police and placed under house arrest for his efforts to integrate Methodist congregations.
Young came to Stanford in 1974 to serve as the Associate Dean of Memorial Church, a chaplain at the Stanford Medical Center and a lecturer in biomedical ethics. Raffin recalled that Young “was a dynamic, compassionate and scholarly teacher.”
Young “often quoted the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, who said the job of the preacher is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable,” Raffin said.
“He will long be remembered for his passion, compassion, insight and heart,” Raffin said.