Persis Drell

Provost, 
​The James and Anna Marie Spilker Professor in the School of Engineering,
​Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Professor of Physics
Stanford University

Persis Drell is the provost at Stanford University, the James and Anna Marie Spilker Professor in the School of Engineering, a professor of materials science and engineering, and a professor of physics. 
 
Prior to her appointment as provost in February 2017, she was dean of the Stanford School of Engineering from 2014 to 2017 and director of U.S. Department of Energy SLAC National Acceleratory Laboratory from 2007 to 2012.
 
She earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics from Wellesley College and her PhD in atomic physics from UC Berkeley. Before joining the faculty at Stanford in 2002, she was a faculty member in the physics department at Cornell University for 14 years.