François has come to Palo Alto to study at Stanford University.

   He is enrolled in the Master of Science program in Applied Mathematics, of the Mathematics department.

   Stanford is a private university.

   It was founded in 1885 by Leland Stanford and his wife Jane Lathrop Stanford.

   Leland Stanford (1824-1893) was a tycoon and robber baron who amassed his huge fortune in railroads.

   He pursued in parallel a career in politics, serving as governor of California for one term in the early sixties, and later being senator from that state from 1885 until his death.

   Stanford University is built on an 8200 acre campus located between El Camino Real and the foothills to the west.

   It offers undergraduate and graduate studies and delivers diplomas in all disciplines pertaining to Humanities, Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Law, Business, etc.

   Until World War II it was a relatively provincial university, much less well known for instance than the Ivy League universities of the East Coast.

   Since WWII it has been the main engine of development of the Silicon Valley.

   This is the name given to the region extending from San Francisco to San José, 42 miles south.

   It used to be covered with fields and orchards.

   Now it is the home of such high-tech firms as Hewlett-Packard, Fairchild, Apple, Google, Facebook, and many more.