Stanford
Office of Faculty Development, Diversity and Engagement

Stanford Emeriti/ae Community

The Stanford Emeriti/ae Council

With the support of University leadership, the Emeriti/ae Council is a representative group of up to 16 emeriti/ae faculty and staff from across the university that supports the emeriti/ae community, reflecting emeriti/ae interests and concerns, communicating with relevant University officers, and encouraging emeriti/ae to support the University in a variety of ways. A Council member serves ex-officio on the university's Faculty Senate. In addition to start-of-year and year-end receptions, emeriti/ae and spouses or partners are invited to attend three "Autobiographical Reflections" lectures by distinguished retired professors during the academic year, as well as presentations co-sponsored with the Stanford Center on Longevity on topics of special interest to seniors. David Abernethy (Political Science) was the long-time chair of the Emeriti/ae Council; the current chair is Iris Litt (Pediatrics).

Council Members as of September 2023: 

Iris Litt (Chair), David Abernethy, Margaret Ann Fidler, Curt Frank, Bill Gould, Pat Jones, Roberta Katz, Mike Kirst, David Kreps, Michele Marincovich, Ellen Porzig, John Rickford, Cecilia Ridgeway and Susan Schofield.

David B. Abernethy Emeriti/ae Lecture Series 

The David B. Abernethy Emeriti/ae Lectures: Autobiographical Reflections is a series begun in 2005 in which distinguished retired professors speak about their lives, careers, inspirations, and post-retirement experiences and perspectives. The growing collection of more than 40 lectures is available on the web through Stanford Apple Podcasts at Emeriti/ae Council Autobiographical Reflections. 

2023/24 Lectures 

Hosted at The Stanford Faculty Club, Cedar Room from 4 - 6 PM 

  • November 15, 2023. Lecture by Michael Wald, Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor of Law, Emeritus
  • February 28, 2024. Lecture by Myra Strober, Professor Emerita at The Stanford Graduate School of Education
  • April 17, 2024. Lecture by Claude Steele, Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences, Emeritus

Recent Past Lectures

  • April 19, 2023.  Lecture by Ann Arvin, Lucile Salter Packard Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Emerita, entitled "Autobiographical Reflections."
  • February 15, 2023. Lecture by Paul Yock, Weiland Professor of Bioengineering and Medicine, Emeritus, entitled "Tales of a Medical Gizmologist."
  • November 15, 2022. Lecture by Clayborne Carson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Centennial Professor of History, Emeritus, entitled "Where Do We Go from Here? Martin Luther King Jr.’s Still Unanswered Question for the World"
  • April 20, 2022. Lecture by William Durham, Bing Professor in Human Biology, Emeritus, entitled "Surprising Implications of Evolution."  
  • February 16, 2022. Lecture by Lubert Stryer, Mrs. George A. Winzer Professor of Cell Biology, Emeritus, entitled "Light and Life." 
  • November 17, 2021. Lecture by Jerry M. Harris, Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Geophysics, Emeritus, entitled "My Mississippi." 

Listen to all previous episodes of our podcast

Longevity Series

This series is co-sponsored with the Stanford Center on Longevity and addresses topics of particular interest to seniors in the Stanford community.

2022/23 Presentations

  • Monday, December 5, 2022. “Young Blood for Old Brains” by Professor Tony Wyss-Coray, Zoom at 4 PM. 
  • Wednesday, March 1, 2023. "Advances in Understanding Attention and Memory" by Professor Emerit Michael Posner of the University of Oregon, Zoom at 4 PM.
  • Wednesday, May 17, 2023, “Where to Live in Retirement: Some Options,” a panel moderated by Professor Emeritus Mike Kirst consisting of emeriti/ae faculty panelists Stanley Peters, Dick Scott, Phil Sunshine, and Nancy Tuma, with comments by Margaret Ann Fidler. Several informative handouts and a program recording are available upon request by contacting stanfordemeriticouncil@stanford.edu.

Recent Past Presentations

  • May 23, 2022. “Navigating 21st Century Lives.” Zoom presentation by Laura Carstensen, Professor of Psychology, Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Jr. Professor in Public Policy, and founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity.
  • March 17, 2022. "Balanced Living: The Key to Fall Prevention." Zoom presentation by Dr. Deborah Kado, MD, Professor of Medicine and Chief of Geriatric Research. 
  • November 3, 2021. "COVID Considerations in 2021: An Emeriti/ae Update. Zoom presentation by Dr. Yvonne "Bonnie" Maldonado, MD, Professor and Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics. 
  • May 19, 2021. "The University Archives and Beyond: Preserving One's Papers, Data, and Research" presented by Josh Schneider, Stanford University Archivist
  • March 17, 2021. "University IT and You" presented by Stanford senior staff in University Information Technology
  • November 2, 2020. "Update on the COVID-19 Pandemic" presented by Philip Pizzo, M.D., former Dean of the School of Medicine, Emeritus and Professor of Pediatrics and of Microbiology and Immunology

Contact Information

The Council receives administrative support from the Provost's Office of Faculty Development, Diversity and Engagement. For more information, please call (650) 736-0384 or email stanfordemeriticouncil@stanford.edu.

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