12 Facts About Persis Drell

Persis S Drell is the Provost Emerita and the James and Anna Marie Spilker Professor in the Stanford University School of Engineering, a professor of materials science and engineering, and a professor of physics.

The daughter of noted physicist Sidney Drell, Persis moved to Stanford when she was six months old.

Persis Drell earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics in 1977 from Wellesley College and her Ph.

In 1988, Persis Drell was appointed to the physics faculty at Cornell University and joined the CLEO collaboration working on heavy flavor physics.

In 2002, Persis Drell joined the faculty at Stanford and was appointed associate director, particle and particle astrophysics at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, where she oversaw the BaBar experiment.

Persis Drell joined the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Collaboration and participated in the construction of the Large Area Telescope.

Persis Drell became deputy director of the laboratory in 2005 and in 2007, she was named the fourth director of SLAC, succeeding Jonathan M Dorfan.

Persis Drell stepped down from the lab director position in 2012 to return to full time research and teaching.

In September 2014, Persis Drell was named dean of the Stanford School of Engineering, the first woman to serve in that role.

In February 2017, Persis Drell became the thirteenth provost of Stanford University.

Persis Drell stepped down from the Provost role in October 2023.

Persis Drell is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and a fellow of the American Physical Society and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.