…tly interwoven with Stanford University. Unlike its fellow prestigious centers of higher learning, it began with an engineering school and to this day lacks a number of the departments we normally associate with universality. Amasa Leland Stanford (Leland Sr.) was one of the more infamous of American’s Robber Barons (railroad magnate and corrupt politician). The students of Stanford once voted to change their mascot to the “Robber Barons”, but wealthy donors quickly over-road them. The university was a memorial to his son Leland Jr., and it began after both Lelands had perished. It was actually accomplished by the widowed mother (Jane) a wheeler-dealer in her own right. She traded upon connections in DC to get Leland’s government debts written off, making the university possible. Plus, Stanford came into its own via significant defense expenditures.
Greg Daneke, Emeritus Prof.