Celebrating Associate Director, Todd Davies: 30 Years With SymSys!

The Symbolic Systems Program celebrates our Associate Director Dr. Todd Davies’ 30th anniversary as a staff member at Stanford. Todd received his PhD in the Stanford Psychology Department and – after a brief time away from the Farm – has been part of the SymSys program ever since. 

SymSys is a perfect fit with Todd’s wide-ranging academic interests, which span psychology, computation, statistics, philosophy, and politics. He has now logged more than 25 years as part of the program directorate, while simultaneously pursuing his research interest in online deliberations and the democratic process. 

As students know, Todd is the heart and soul of SymSys, with an encyclopedic knowledge of the program’s requirements (many of which he has designed), faculty affiliates, and alumni. This makes him the go-to person for almost any question. He is also intensely dedicated to making sure students can navigate the program successfully, working to make sure that they can find the best path to graduation. 

Asked about Todd, former director Tom Wasow writes that “Todd has chosen to devote his professional career to SymSys and its students. This has been a tremendous boon to the program, as he has worked with four program directors over the years to develop both its curriculum and extracurricular activities. He has done more than any other individual to make SymSys the great success that it is. And from my personal perspective, working with Todd was one of the best things about serving as Director of SymSys, and was one of the reasons I stayed in that job much longer than in any of the other administrative positions I have held at Stanford.”

We wish Todd the best and hope that he stays with the program for many years to come!