As a longtime conservationist and Stanford alumnus, I am delighted the university is helping to address some of the world's major environmental needs.

Stanford's combination of broad expertise, cutting-edge science, effective multidisciplinary collaboration, and innovative thinking is what is needed not only to protect the environment but also to sustain and improve the human condition. The Initiative on the Environment and Sustainability, with its emphasis on finding working solutions, holds the potential to make genuine breakthroughs in environmental science and policy, and to see them implemented.

That is why I have made a major commitment to the initiative, and I urge you to do the same. I know the number of worthy causes is endless, as are the demands they make on one's time and resources. But as you consider where your support can do the greatest good, I encourage you to remember that without a healthy future for our planet, all our other efforts will ultimately mean little.

	Sincerely,
	Ward W. Woods, '64 Advisory Council Chair,   Woods Institute for the Environment Steering Committee Member,   The Stanford Challenge