Coronavirus: Former Stanford President Donald Kennedy Dead At 88

STANFORD, CA — Former Stanford president Donald Kennedy, a neurobiologist who led played a prominent role in its transformation into one of the nation’s most prestigious research universities, died of COVID-19, on Tuesday.

Kennedy, who suffered a stroke in 2015, was 88.

Kennedy served 12 years in office after becoming Stanford’s eighth president in 1980.

He is credited with opening the Stanford Humanities Center, expanding interdisciplinary studies and adding overseas campuses. He helped launch Bing Stanford in Washington, which provides opportunities for undergraduates to live, study and work in the nation’s capital.

“As we mourn the loss of Don Kennedy, we also salute his enormous contributions to Stanford and to our country,” said Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne.

“As a biologist, as a national voice for science, as a vigorous leader of Stanford University and as an engaging teacher beloved by so many students, Don brought to his endeavors an enduring commitment to academic excellence, a deep wellspring of warmth and good humor and a vision for the possibilities always ahead of Stanford.”

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Kennedy reflected on his experience at Stanford in his 2018 memoir, “A Place in the Sun.”

“Creative, compassionate, and, of course, intelligent are adjectives that describe the many amazing students who have walked those shady arcades of sandstone and tile,” Kennedy wrote.

“During my 12 years as University president, I made a conscientious effort to carve out time to interact with these talented young people. Through teaching, advising and cheering them on – whether on the field, in the classroom, on the stage or in the biology labs – some of my very best Stanford experiences involved my interactions with undergraduates.”

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