Letter from the alumni president

Dear Colleagues,

Famed coach Bill Walsh said, “Get out of the comfort zone.” He was talking to football players — and to all of us. Going further, Stanford graduate John W. Gardner, former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare and founder of Common Cause, asserted, “People are made to push the cosmos.” Your alumni association is doing both.

Scanning the Stanford world, we saw the perfect occasion to broaden our horizons and activities throughout the medical center. By broadening, we can better put our experience and values to work in health care and health policy. We will now extend support to all degree holders at graduation plus faculty, housestaff and fellows and post-graduate trainees after one year of service. We will build bridges, offer mentoring and encouragement and otherwise foster a robust, diverse and distinguished medical center-wide enterprise.

We are pushing ahead with the following measures:

• Change our name. Pending ratification, our name will be Stanford University Medical Center Alumni Association.
• Establish a diversity committee that will raise awareness of cultural, racial and gender differences in medicine and take action toward positive change.
• Invigorate class representatives, amplify our Web site (med.stanford.edu/alumni) and reach beyond medical alumni with our communications.
• Explore closer ties with other campus alumni groups and parents’ events.
• Support the medical school’s campaign to build a new Center for Learning and Knowledge.

Your alumni association is pushing hard as we expand our vistas and develop new partners. Call (650) 234-0619, write or drop by (2700 Sandhill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025) or visit the Web site and join in.

Cordially,

Linda Hawes Clever, MD ’65
President, Stanford Medical Alumni Association

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