Stanford professor with high-tech links is named president

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Electrical engineering Professor John L. Hennessy, who recently reeled in the largest gift in Stanford's history, was named yesterday as the university's next president.

The appointment is expected to position the campus to harvest big donations from alumni and professors who have joined the wealthy in the surrounding Silicon Valley.

Hennessy, 47, the university's No. 2 administrator, was a natural choice as an inside candidate, given the enormous pressures on campus presidents to raise large donations.

He is on first-name basis with many high-tech titans.