Program History
In the early 1950's, political, economic and competitive pressures led corporate visionaries like David Packard and William Hewlett to acknowledge that the success of their company and the economic growth of the area depended on having a highly trained workforce. Stanford University, with one of the world's most prestigious schools of engineering, was their natural choice.
Frederick Terman, the dean of Stanford's engineering school, well understood the importance of transferring ideas and skills from Stanford to local corporations and stimulating a healthy reciprocity between industry and the university. He sought to provide Stanford graduate education taught by Stanford's own world-class research faculty rather than create a "shadow school" of night classes with adjunct faculty.
The Honors Cooperative Program (HCP) was Terman's solution. HCP made it possible for corporations to select their best engineers to pursue a master's degree by attending classes on a part-time basis. In 1954, Hewlett-Packard, Sylvania and General Electric agreed to participate in the HCP, enrolling just twenty-three engineers in classes. By 1964, a part-time Stanford education was extended to more than 650 working engineers from dozens of area corporations.
Today, over 400 companies have partnered with the Stanford Center for Professional Development making it possible for more than 5000 employees annually to enroll in Stanford programs. Through HCP alone, more than 3000 full-time member company employees worldwide have earned Stanford graduate degrees-it remains one of the largest, most successful programs of its kind in the world. Join us as we honor HCP and the Stanford graduates it has served.
Alumni Profiles
Survivor stories, Stanford style:
Martin Torres:
The incredible journey: a Datsun, a bike and thirteen years.
Joseph B. Reagan: Father of six, research pioneer, Ph.D. student-dedication or insanity?
Earl McCune: What you need: "Realistic expectations … and a bucket full of patience."
Sandra Capri: "It's like drinking from a fire hose-you just can't take it all in at once."
Ray Depew: “I got to study...at the feet of some of the greatest minds in their fields.”
Suresh Sankaralingam: “It is true that I had to give up many things—well, just about everything,”
Edward Smith: "I was in Dr. Robert Hofstadter’s class in 1961 when he won the Nobel Prize in Physics,”
Ariel Tribble: Intrepid traveler, global learner.
Cindy
Shurtleff: Life, work and school in the 1980s. You can have it all.
Alison Olver: Analysis of a decision. A temporary transplant yields longterm benefits.
Alumni Resources:
Alumni directory and networking, events, career services, lifelong learning, volunteer opportunities, student programs and more.
