Stanford will get $5 million per year for five years in exchange for selecting 10 faculty members for the new King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) on Saudi Arabia's west coast. Don't expect many women professors to join up. While on campus, the Stanford News Service reports, women "will have the opportunity to work and live their lives as they would in the West." Off campus, however, "they will be governed by current Saudi laws, which, for example, prohibit women from driving."
Stanford's professors knew this going into the deal. We don't see why it should have stopped them. It's not like refusing to help staff the school would have led to a sudden cultural shift in Saudi Arabia's most conservative region. But maybe the absent-minded cabal could have asked for more than a measly $25 million? How about getting subsidized gas for the faculty? That seems more worth it. (Photo by Kelly Hart)
