Stanford University Welcomes Persis Drell '77 P'16, Engineering, and Sandra Horbach '82, Business

Two alumnae were recently appointed to leadership positions at Stanford University. This summer, Persis Drell '77 'P16 was named dean of Stanford Engineering. Drell, whose appointment is effective September 1, will be the ninth dean of the School of Engineering and the first woman to serve in that role. Sandra Horbach '82 was named chair of the board of Stanford Business School, making her the first woman to chair the board of an elite business school.

Horbach is a global partner and managing director at the alternative asset management firm the Carlyle Group, where she serves as the head of the consumer and retail group. She also serves on the board of trustees at Rockefeller University and the Chapin School in New York. Horbach studied Chinese at Wellesley, then attended and received her MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Drell, the former director of Stanford’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (once known as the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center), is professor of physics in Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences and of particle physics and astrophysics at SLAC. In a press release, Stanford President John Hennessy called Drell “an accomplished researcher who has demonstrated expert leadership in guiding innovation in science and technology." He said her “skills at managing research teams that cross many disciplines, and in promoting an academic environment that advances discovery, make her a perfect choice to guide one of the world's leading schools of engineering."

Drell received her bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics from Wellesley College in 1977 and her doctorate in atomic physics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1983. She will be the keynote speaker at Family & Friends Weekend and Homecoming, October 17-19, 2014.