Stanford Names Neuroscientist as Its Next President

Marc Tessier-Lavigne, a neuroscientist and president of Rockefeller University, has been named the 11th president of Stanford University, the institution announced on Thursday. Mr. Tessier-Lavigne, who is a former member of the Stanford faculty, will take the helm on September 1.

“Marc has a sophisticated understanding of the breadth of the Stanford enterprise, the centrality of faculty and students to our mission, and the critical role of the president in preserving and enhancing Stanford’s excellence as one of the world’s great universities,” said the chairman of Stanford’s Board of Trustees, Steven A. Denning, in a written statement.

Mr. Tessier-Lavigne was a professor of biological sciences at Stanford from 2001 to 2005. He became president of Rockefeller, a biomedical-research institution in New York, in 2011.

The current president of Stanford, John L. Hennessy, announced in June that he would step down after nearly 15 years of leadership.