History
Seventy years of transatlantic partnership — from book donations to the Freie Universität Berlin to Stanford’s own campus at Haus Cramer.
Early 1950s — Stanford students in California donate books to the library of the newly founded Freie Universität Berlin; Stanford becomes the first university to establish a direct exchange fellowship with the F.U. The Freie Universität remains an important partner to this day.
1958 — Stanford opens its first “overseas campus” in Beutelsbach/Baden-Württemberg, setting the cornerstone for a study-abroad network of unparalleled scope and interdisciplinary breadth. As many as 40% of Stanford undergraduates attend one of the ten campuses of the Bing Overseas Studies Program, named since 2005 after Helen & Peter Bing.
1975 — Stanford opens a campus in West Berlin, initially using classrooms at the Freie Universität Berlin, with whom Stanford in Berlin still enjoys a close and active partnership.
1977 — The Berlin Senate reconstructs the ruins of the historic Muthesius villa, Haus Cramer (Berlin-Dahlem), for use by Stanford in Berlin; it is inaugurated in February 1978.
1980 — The Stanford Alumni Club of Germany e.V. (later the Stanford Club of Germany e.V. = SCoG) is founded. The Club soon endorses Stanford in Berlin as the flagship of its German activities. Projects funded through the SCoG include the Visiting German Chair at Stanford (with ten years’ funding from the Auswärtiges Amt and the Volkswagen-Stiftung); the Stanford Symposia on Transition in Europe (1991–1996); the historical reconstruction, modernization and expansion of Haus Cramer (1988, 1996 and 2001) with support of the Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin; the establishment of the SCoG Endowment for Stanford in Berlin; and, from 2003, the annual Stanford-Siemens Workshop on Globalization.
1982 — The Krupp Internship Program for Stanford Students in Germany is established through the foresight and generosity of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung under the leadership of Prof. Dr. h.c. mult. Berthold Beitz, building on a successful pilot project run the previous year with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The program has since placed over 1,250 Stanford students in full-time internships of three to six months with German host institutions.
2000 — Stanford purchases Haus Cramer from the city of Berlin, thanks to the generosity and vision of Berlin alumnus Hans George Will. The purchase — endorsed by the Berlin Senator for Science, Research and Culture, the Berlin Parliament and Stanford President Prof. Gerhard Casper — is facilitated by Director of Stanford Overseas Studies Prof. Russell Berman and Director of Stanford in Berlin Dr. Karen Kramer. It is the first property the University owns outside the United States.
2005 — The H.G. Will Fund is established by Berlin alumnus Hans George Will, with matching funds from the Hewlett Foundation. The Fund supports enrichment activities at Stanford in Berlin, most importantly the H.G. Will Field Trips on European Expansion.