Larry Horton

Senior Associate Vice President / Director, Government and Community Relations
(650) 725-3324
lhorton@stanford.edu

Larry Horton directs Stanford's federal and state government relations as well as local government and community relations. Stanford, as a large institution, is inextricably involved with government at all levels, and it has special interests in national and state policies regarding education and research.

Employed at Stanford since 1970, Horton has served in a number of posts including Assistant and Associate Dean of Student Affairs, Associate Director of Government Relations, and Associate Vice President for Public Affairs. From 1976 to 1977, he participated in the President's Executive Exchange Program in Washington, where he served as an assistant to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Horton holds two Stanford degrees (Bachelor of Arts in Political Science; Master of Arts in History). He currently serves on the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities.

Jean McCown

Assistant Vice President and Director of Community Relations
(650) 725-3329
jmccown@stanford.edu

Jean McCown focuses on Stanford's government and community relations efforts and initiatives at the city, county and state level. She maintains relationships with community-based organizations, government officials, local businesses and citizens to support effective communication and dialogue within the Stanford community and between Stanford and its neighbors.

McCown was a member of the Palo Alto City Council from 1990 to 1998 and served as mayor in 1993. She previously served on the Palo Alto Planning Commission and on regional transportation committees including the CalTrain Joint Powers Board and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. Before coming to Stanford in 2004, McCown was a partner at the law firm of Ritchey Fisher Whitman & Klein, where she focused on land use, environmental and real estate matters.

McCown serves on the boards of the Greenbelt Alliance and the Palo Alto Housing Corporation. She received the John Gardner Leadership Award in 1994 and the Athena Award in 2004. McCown received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Michigan, a Masters degree in History from the University of Wisconsin and a Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Boalt Hall.

Ryan Adesnik

Director of Federal Government Relations
(650) 725-3322
radesnik@stanford.edu

Ryan Adesnik leads the university’s government affairs efforts in Washington, D.C., before Congress and the Executive Branch. Adesnik first came to Stanford in March 2003 to launch a government relations office at the School of Medicine, where he designed a program to further the school’s research and policy goals in Washington, D.C., and in Sacramento.

Adesnik joined Stanford from the Carmen Group, Inc. of Washington, D.C., a firm that represents corporations, teaching hospitals, private universities, nonprofit philanthropies and others before the federal government. He served as vice president of the organization and provided legislative counsel, political strategy and issue-oriented research. Previously, he held the position of senior legislative aide to Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman of New York, during Mr. Gilman’s tenure as Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Adesnik hold a Bachelors of Business Administration in Finance from Emory University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Miami School of Law.

Lucy Wicks

Associate Director of Community Relations
(650) 725-3339
lwicks@stanford.edu

Lucy Wicks acts as a liaison between Stanford University and community-based organizations, government officials, businesses and individuals located in and around Stanford’s main campus and the new Stanford in Redwood City project area. Through this position she provides the community with information about the University and its resources. These relationships also enable Wicks to inform and advise the University about the needs and interests of the community and of cities.

Previous to joining Stanford, Wicks worked as the Livable Communities Coordinator in the Office of Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, where she led a community-wide strategic planning process aimed at improving the livability of the area. She also worked in the areas of land use, transportation and public health policy.

Wicks serves on the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and is active in the Redwood City - San Mateo County Chamber of Commerce. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Goucher College.

Sonia Fahey

Office Manager
(650) 725-3579
sfahey@stanford.edu

Evi Sutherland

Administrative Associate
(650) 725-3320
esuther@stanford.edu