The Departments of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM) and Engineering-Economic Systems & Operations Research (EES&OR) join forces in a new department called Management Science and Engineering.

The new Stanford Networking Research Center is founded in partnership with information technology companies and Silicon Valley industries. The center has a broad technical research scope, which includes wireless access, Internet technologies, and information services. Its founding corporate members include Cisco Systems, 3Com, STMicroelectronics, Mandala Networks, Robert Bosch GmbH, and Sony Corporation.

Silicon Graphics and Netscape founder Jim Clark makes a $150 million gift to Stanford to fund a new cross-disciplinary initiative in biomedical engineering and sciences. This gift is the largest single gift in Stanford history. It will help build and outfit the new James H. Clark Center for Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, and endow faculty positions and graduate student fellowships.

Over 500 alumni attend the new Engineering Alumni Relations Program's first Engineering Entrepreneurs Day (EDAY). Panels of entrepreneurial SoE faculty and alumni speak on such topics as "A Peek Inside the Labs: The Hottest Research and Teaching on Campus," "Building a Successful Partnership with Venture Capitalists," and "What They Didn't Teach Me at Stanford."

John Hennessy is inaugurated as Stanford's 10th president.