Tiger Woods, John McEnroe, Larry Page and Sergey Brin (co-founders of Google), Jerry Yang and David Filo (co-founders of Yahoo!) have one thing in common. They attended Stanford University. Actually, they are but of few of the immense talents who have come out of this great institution. 

How many universities around the world hold the distinction of excelling in sports, in research, and in academics?  
Stanford University sent more athletes than any other U.S. college to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The 25 medal haul of its athletes is much larger than those of other countries that participated in the games. This university ranked the 13th best in the world based on QS World University Rankings. Throughout its existence, Stanford University has also produced 50 Noble Prize winners. 

There is a story behind this great institution. Due to the death of their son before the age of 15 in 1884, Leland and Jane Stanford, Sr. decided to build a university in his memory. Located south east of San Francisco, this private schoolsits on an 8,180 acre campus. It opened its doors to students in 1891 after 6 years of planning and building. All the buildings and land came from the huge wealth of the railroad tycoon Leland Stanford, Sr. If you look at the school seal the original name is Leland Stanford Junior University but it’s better known today as Stanford University. 

The school faced it own struggles early on to survive but has always made significant marks in its over 100 years of existence. It is this school that was basically responsible for the creation of Silicon Valley.  You can just image the knowledge and wealth that this university has had a hand in making.  The Stanfords had high and noble goals when they set the founding of Grant of Endowment for the university in 1885. Harvard University was the benchmark but you couldn’t fault them for aiming high. Just look at the kind of institution their donation has produced.