The State - News from June 9, 1988

Warren Christopher, a key negotiator in the release of 52 American hostages held in Iran in 1980, said he is stepping down as president of the Stanford University Board of Trustees. Christopher, 62, a deputy secretary of state in the Carter Administration, said he will remain a trustee until his term expires in 1991, but will give up the president’s post at the board’s next meeting Friday. “I’ve felt three years was an appropriate time (as president),” the attorney said from his Los Angeles office. “It’s been a very satisfying job, but I think now is the time to turn it over to someone else.” The 29-member board oversees investments of Stanford’s $1.5-billion endowment and its $320-million annual budget. It also hires the university president and the director of the Hoover Institution think-tank. Christopher denied that he is interested in returning to Washington as secretary of state. “I’m completely satisfied with life in California,” he said.