John Etchemendy : An Oral History
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- John W. Etchemendy, the Patrick Suppes Family Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, speaks about his research and teaching career in the Stanford Department of Philosophy, his service as an associate dean in the School of Humanities and Sciences, and his tenure as the provost of the university from 2000 to 2017. Etchemendy also shares memories of growing up in a military family, his path to Stanford for PhD studies in philosophy, his research collaborations with Jon Barwise, and directing the Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI). In recalling his time as provost, he explains the wide-ranging responsibilities of the position, describes initiatives and challenges during his tenure, and offers thoughts on Stanford’s structure, culture, student body, and more.
Description
| Type of resource | moving image, sound recording-nonmusical, text |
|---|---|
| Extent | 3 video files; 3 audio files; 1 text file |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | January 24, 2020 - 2020-02-07 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Etchemendy, John, 1952- | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Etchemendy, John, 1952- | |
| Interviewer | Saller, Richard P. | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Etchemendy, John, 1952- |
|---|---|
| Subject | Stanford University. School of Humanities and Sciences |
| Subject | Stanford University. Department of Philosophy |
| Subject | Center for the Study of Language and Information (U.S.). Metaphysics Research Lab |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Biographical Profile | John Etchemendy received his BA and MA in Philosophy from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1973 and 1976 respectively. He earned his doctorate in Philosophy at Stanford University in 1982. He was on the faculty at Princeton University for two years before returning to the Department of Philosophy at Stanford in 1983. He has been a faculty member at Stanford since that time. Etchemendy is also a founding faculty member of the Symbolic Systems Program and a senior researcher at the Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI), a research center devoted to research at the intersection of logic, linguistics, cognitive science, natural language processing, and artificial intelligence. He served as Director of CSLI from 1990 to 1993. Etchemendy is the author or co-author of seven books and numerous articles in logic. He has been co-editor of the Journal of Symbolic Logic and on the editorial board of several other journals. In 1988, Etchemendy received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, and in 1992 he received the first Bing Award for Excellence in Teaching. He was awarded the Educom Medal in 1997 for national leadership in the application of technology to teaching and learning for his pioneering software for teaching formal logic. Etchemendy was Stanford’s Associate Dean for the Humanities from 1993 to 1997, and Provost from 2000 to 2017. He was the longest serving provost in Stanford history and one of the longest serving provosts at any US institution. In 2012, Etchemendy was elected as a Commissioner for the Accreditation Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. In 2014 he was appointed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), which advises the Secretary on higher education accreditation. |
|---|---|
| Summary Part 1 | Part 1 [00:00:00–00:31:39] Family background and Basque heritage; growing up in a military family • Impact of moving frequently • Context of Vietnam War • High school in Puerto Rico and Reno, Nevada • Meeting future wife, Nancy, while in high school • Story of being rejected by Stanford as an undergraduate • Undergraduate education at University of Utah and University of Nevada, Reno • Thoughts on today’s emphasis on university rankings • Philosophy specialties in analytic philosophy and logic • Decision to pursue graduate studies in philosophy and how he ended up at Stanford • Stanford’s Department of Philosophy under Pat Suppes; department’s reputation and strengths [00:31:40–00:59:35] Dissertation on Alfred Tarski’s definition of logical truth and logical consequence • Beneficiary of graduate fellowships at Stanford • Thoughts on differential versus equal fellowship funding for graduate students • Memories of Silicon Valley in the 1970s • First job at Stanford cleaning windows • Academic job market in early 1980s; first faculty position at Princeton • Difference in culture between Stanford and Princeton • Stress of first year of teaching • Joining the Stanford faculty in 1983 • Experience of tenure process; guiding assistant professors through the tenure process as provost [00:59:36–01:32:18] Collaborations with Jon Barwise to develop software for teaching logic • Research on heterogeneous logic /diagrammatic reasoning • Creation of Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI) and early funding from the System Development Foundation • Projects at CSLI in the 1980s • Lessons learned from directing CSLI • Love of teaching • Creation of the Symbolic Systems Program • Balance of teaching and research skills in Stanford faculty • Thoughts on massive open online courses (MOOCs) and their role in higher education [01:32:19–02:09:50] Appointment as associate dean for the humanities • Learning curve and responsibilities as associate dean • Rebuilding the Music Department; thoughts on structure of arts departments • Creation of the Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages • Language education at Stanford • Financial challenges in the School of Humanities & Sciences (H&S) during the 1990s • Appointments and Promotions Committee • Service as chair of the Philosophy Department; broadening the department’s strengths |
| Summary Part 2 | Part 2 [00:00:00–00:29:47] Serving on search committee that selected John Hennessy as Stanford president • Insights from Bill Bowen about Stanford • Invitation to become provost and decision • Provost’s role at Stanford • Approach to working with many direct reports • Steep learning curve; learning about the budget; Tim Warner • Service and goals as provost • Emphasis on listening; Fallibilist approach to management [00:29:48–01:00:40] Fear of a major earthquake and actions taken to mitigate damage • Decision to tear down Meyer Library • Thoughts on provost’s dual budget and academic roles • Growing the budget group • Saying no to people • 2008-2009 financial crisis and salary freezes at Stanford • Pushback on changing retiree health benefits • Difficulty of faculty and student disciplinary cases • Working with John Hennessy [01:00:41–01:34:06] Stanford at the start of Hennessy’s presidency; vision of “one-university” and making Stanford stronger • Division of labor and communication between the provost and president • Importance of both faculty and institutional culture to success • Gerhard Casper’s focus on undergraduate education • Efforts to improve graduate education and encourage interdisciplinary research • Provost’s role in building a strong faculty; Advisory Board • Efforts to increase faculty diversity • Extending tenure clocks and childcare support for faculty • Issue of faculty retirement • Productivity of aging faculty members at Stanford [01:34:07–02:14:34] Recruiting and appointing deans who value cooperation; example of creation of the Bioengineering Department • Bob Joss’s time as dean of the Graduate School of Business • Key administrative staff: Stephanie Kalfayan, Tim Warner, Bob Reidy • Challenges associated with recruiting faculty and staff to Silicon Valley • Cultures of the different Stanford schools • Medical Center Line faculty and the decision to not make them eligible for campus houses • Structure of Stanford’s current schools and discussions about future possible schools |
| Summary Part 3 | Part 3 [00:00:00–00:31:05] Hoover Institution and its relationship with the university • Interdisciplinarity at Stanford • Changes in undergraduate curriculum, including I-HUM freshman requirement • Enrollments across the disciplines; importance of liberal arts to an undergraduate education • Changes in the student population • Importance of encouraging resilience in students [00:31:06–0:58:59] Increasing financial aid for undergraduates • International admissions • Changes to graduate education; creation of the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education • Knight-Hennessy Scholars • Undocumented students • Stanford’s response to the 2008 financial crisis • Structure of Stanford’s budget [00:59:00–01:29:36] Generosity of alumni; fundraising • Strength of Stanford’s Development Office • Title IX and sexual assault • Efforts to change Stanford’s alcohol policy • Athletics at Stanford [01:29:37–02:00:11] Personal health struggles as an inspiration for the BeWell program • Challenges after the failure of the Stanford-UCSF hospital merger • Dean Phil Pizzo’s leadership of the School of Medicine • Working with Bob Reidy towards a more sustainable campus • Decision to move some Stanford operations to Redwood City • Challenges associated with the General Use Permit (GUP) • Staff hiring versus faculty hiring • Variety and strengths of higher education in the United States • Stanford’s position in higher education [02:00:12–02:20:10] Concerns about gaps between private and public universities • Measuring success • Current activities: Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, teaching, serving on Faculty Senate • Thoughts on future challenges for Stanford |
| Transcript |
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| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/yy759hp4897 |
| Location | SC0932 |
| Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
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