Whenever Philip Zimbardo asked his Italian grandfather where his family came from, the answer was vague—a little village outside Palermo. That small burg, however, was to have a major impact on the emeritus psychology professor’s life. His effect on his ancestral village has been just as big.

Tagged: Italy, scholarships, Public Service, Humanities & Sciences

High-profile legal cases, alleging misconduct by executives at Countrywide Savings, Novatel, and Qwest, may be prompting the Securities and Exchange Commission to rethink rules that permit scheduled trading by insiders.

One catalyst for this second look is research by Alan Jagolinzer that indicates that prearranged trades allowed under the so-called"Safe Harbor Rule" may be less innocent than they appear.

Tagged: Public Service, Business

Comparative effectiveness research is generating buzz these days, with the recent economic stimulus package allocating $1.1 billion for these types of studies. But a researcher at the School of Medicine is asking policymakers to take a step back and make sure that the plans for comparative effectiveness research go deep enough to make a difference.

Tagged: Human Health, Public Service, Medicine

For many Democrats, the key issue in health-care reform is the creation of a government health insurance program to compete with the private sector. Stanford's Victor Fuchs, a leading health economist, is skeptical of the idea.

Tagged: health care reform, insurance, Human Health, Public Service, Medicine

A decade ago, John A. Hall, Stanford Law ’00, was a history professor on the academic fast track when a lifechanging vacation made him reexamine his role in the world. Today, Hall is a human rights legal scholar whose research has improved transparency in the tribunals of the surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge.

Tagged: Cambodia, human rights, International Issues, Public Service, Law

1.6 billion people worldwide still use kerosene as their exclusive source of light. Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni are working to replace these lanterns with high-quality and affordable light and power solutions.

Tagged: International Initiative, International Issues, Public Service, Business

Law Professor Robert Weisberg moderated a panel of public defenders and a prosecutor who spoke at Stanford Law School about the problems caused by what they call paltry funding for indigent criminal defense in the country's state and county courts.

Tagged: Public Service, Law

Charitable giving may be a $300 billion industry in the United States, but for nearly all nonprofits encouraging donations is the number one challenge. Recent research from the Stanford Business School shows that nonprofits can benefit financially by prompting potential donors to make an emotional connection to the organization and to its mission.

Tagged: On Campus, Public Service, Business

More intriguing, perhaps, than any impact of Barack Obama’s racial identity on the November election is the broader association between race and voting for the Democratic and Republican parties.

Tagged: democracy, iRiSS, On Campus, Public Service, Humanities & Sciences

Stanford and Harvard are launching a project to develop and evaluate a national policy on poverty and inequality in America. The Collaboration for Poverty Research will tap the intellectual resources of both institutions to focus attention and garner public support for new measures to attack and solve one of the most significant public problems of our time.

Tagged: poverty, On Campus, Public Service, Humanities & Sciences