Stanford University announces new climate change school with $1.1 billion from renowned venture capitalist
“The new school will build fundamental knowledge of the Earth and its systems, accelerate the development of solutions to the climate crisis at the scale that is needed, and educate tomorrow’s problem solvers and change makers in this urgent area,” he wrote.
The total funding for the initiative, including the Doerrs’ donation and other contributions, is $1.6 billion.
In 2009, Majumdar served under the Obama administration as the founding director of the government agency in charge of researching energy innovations. He also serves as the chair of the advisory board for US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
“As is often said, we do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. We must create a future in which humans and nature thrive together,” the new dean added.
The new school is designed to focus on various topics related to the climate crisis and its solutions, including earth and planetary sciences, energy technology, food and water security and human health.
The university’s School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences, also known as Stanford Earth, will transition to the new school along with current faculty members. Stanford also plans to invest in around 60 more faculty members over the next 10 years, with early hires focusing on energy, climate science, and environmental justice, the release noted.
The launch comes at a time when the university’s home state of California continues to be plagued with climate change-fueled disasters including a historic drought, ongoing water crisis, weather swings from hot to cold extremes, and landscape-altering wildfires.