Rate My Professor Persis Drell

Persis S. Drell is the James and Anna Marie Spilker Professor in the School of Engineering, a professor of materials science and engineering, and a professor of Physics at Stanford University, where she has served on the faculty since 2002. She earned her A.B. in mathematics and physics from Wellesley College in 1977 and her Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1983. Prior to Stanford, Drell was a professor of physics at Cornell University from 1988 to 2002, contributing to the CLEO collaboration with key measurements in experimental particle physics, including the first observation of the inclusive radiative penguin decay B → sγ (Physical Review Letters, 1995), studies of B meson lifetimes and decays, tau lepton branching fractions, and charm meson properties. Her research interests encompass experimental particle physics, as well as experimental and observational astrophysics and cosmology. At Stanford and SLAC, she advanced high-energy astrophysics through leadership in the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope project, contributing to observations of pulsars, blazars, and supernova remnants.

Drell's distinguished career includes serving as Director of Research, Deputy Director, and Director of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory from 2007 to 2012, during which she oversaw the operational startup of the Linac Coherent Light Source, the world’s first hard X-ray free-electron laser, and broadened the laboratory's focus to multiple disciplines. She was Dean of the Stanford School of Engineering from 2014 to 2017 and Provost of Stanford University from 2017 to 2023. Her leadership has profoundly influenced scientific infrastructure, interdisciplinary collaboration, and university governance. Drell has held significant service roles, including Chair of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on International Security and Arms Control, board member of NVIDIA Corporation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Chair of the DESY Scientific Council. Among her major awards are election to the American Philosophical Society (2025), National Academy of Sciences (2010), American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2007), Guggenheim Fellowship (1998), American Physical Society Fellowship (1997), and NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1988).