Benjamin Lev helps with program to bring military vets to campus

This summer, a group of 11 service members came to the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences for the Warrior-Scholar Project STEM Academic Boot Camp. The camp includes a weeklong program of classes and mentorship to help prepare veterans for college, and it takes place at universities across the U.S. This year was its first at Stanford.

The Warrior-Scholar Project, launched in 2011, aims to remove veterans’ barriers to higher education by introducing small groups of former enlisted service members to college experiences, coaching them in the skills required to be successful students, and connecting them with other vets embarking on academic tours of duty. 

Benjamin Lev, a professor of physics and applied physics in H&S, worked with Mary Beth Mudgett, senior associate dean for the natural sciences, Susan B. Ford Professor, and a professor of biology in H&S, to bring the program to campus this year. 

“We are excited to host and engage with veterans as they transition into higher education,” Mudgett said. “The energy for exploration and learning is palpable on the Stanford campus. Our goal is to share this with them and ignite new ideas and connections to inspire their next career move.”

Benjamin Lev was passionate about connecting Stanford with the Warrior-Scholar Project because he was profoundly impressed with the enlisted service people he met during his two-year participation in the Defense Science Study Group, a government program that invites outstanding science and engineering professors to help find solutions to military and national security challenges. 

“What I found most amazing was talking to the enlistees,” Lev said of his experiences in the study group. “They are incredible people. Some are just 18 or 19, but they are so mature. They’re from all walks of life, from every part of the country.”

Read more, 'Stanford participates in pathway to college for military vets,' Stanford Report