Honoring his extraordinary contributions to the American West, the Bill Lane Center bids “happy trails” to its director, Bruce Cain

A transition is on the horizon for renowned political scientist Bruce Cain, the Spencer F. and Cleone P. Eccles Family Director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West. Fortunately for the Stanford community – particularly the scores of students and researchers he mentors and advises each year – Cain is not retiring. On Sept. 1, however, he handed off his Lane Center leadership position on to Zephyr Frank, professor of history and environmental social sciences.

For over a decade, Cain has been both envisioning and implementing programming that has solidified the Bill Lane Center’s place as the premier hub for Western scholarship in the country. Eminent Stanford historian David Kennedy, co-founding director of the Bill Lane Center, has said as much of his successor: “Under Bruce Cain’s leadership, the Bill Lane Center for the American West has advanced from strength to strength – conspicuously including major expansion of internships for undergraduates; innovative research initiatives focused on the rural West, as well as on water, energy, wildfire, public health, and the arts; and, most recently, acquisition of the incomparably rich California Historical Society archives. His uncommon energy, creativity, and grace have positioned Stanford as the leading site for teaching and scholarship about the greater North American West.”

[Bruce Cain's] uncommon energy, creativity, and grace have positioned Stanford as the leading site for teaching and scholarship about the greater North American West.

Engaging with the West across disciplines

Part of the Center’s excellence stems from Cain’s embrace of multidisciplinary study, which has given students and scholars an opportunity to develop the most comprehensive understanding of the American West possible.

In fact, interdisciplinarity is at the very core of the Lane Center’s identity. It was founded by historians in 2005 (with Kennedy and Richard White as inaugural co-directors); handed off to Cain, a political scientist, in 2013; and is uniquely situated near the Departments of Environmental Engineering, Earth Systems Science, and Geophysics.  These factors have created ideal conditions for Cain to apply his political science expertise to urgent questions of environmental governance and climate adaptation, which he has done indefatigably for the past 12 years. During his time as faculty director -- with a prescient understanding of the West’s drought, wildfire and sea-level rise crises -- he has mentored countless students in solutions-focused environmental work. 

Along the way, he has authored numerous articles covering topics such as public opinion on wildfire adaptation policies, the use of recycled water, alternative energy use in California, and collaborative governance on transportation policy; the diversity of Western water management plans; the power of partisanship in key Western states; support for carbon dioxide removal via direct air capture; the role of local governments in building out electric vehicle infrastructure; and much more. In 2023, he published "Under Fire and Under Water," a book on the fight for climate resilience in the American West. Based on a distinguished lecture series he delivered at the University of Oklahoma, the book’s analysis of climate change politics clarifies a path forward in the face of dangerous heat, fire, and flood impacts.  To make progress, Cain contends, society must confront the cultural habits and political calculus that produce gridlock and delay, effectively leaving entire communities completely unprepared for disaster.

Since many of the region’s sustainability goals require compromise from stakeholders – actual people whose livelihoods could be threatened by privileging environmental protections over business interests and lifestyle preferences – Cain always knew that climate change adaptation could benefit from a political science lens. “Scientific solutions that seem on paper should be easy to implement turn out to be very hard to implement,” he once said in an interview with David Zierler, director of the Caltech Heritage Project. Noting the institutional, regulatory, and behavioral barriers that hinder environmental progress, Cain told Zierler, “The advantage political science has over physics is we can actually talk to our data points.’”

New partnerships, new solutions

With an academic eclecticism, Cain has spent his years at the Lane Center talking to many such data points. The result has been an impressive portfolio of research, writing, programs and collaborations that have stretched deep and wide to grasp the complexity of challenges facing the American West – and to develop solutions based on thoroughgoing investigations. Cain has applied this kind of rigor not only to climate matters, but to public health questions as well.

For example, by partnering with Stanford Medicine and the Sean Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research, Cain brought together medical research and public policy expertise to address crucial health issues in Western communities. The collaboration produced an analysis of the biological harm caused by deteriorating air quality in rural areas, along with key findings on the health impacts of wildfire smoke and the most effective adaptation strategies to protect people from these hazards. Another project with Stanford Medicine examined how telehealth can reach dispersed and underserved rural populations. Addressing health disparities in rural areas has long been one of Cain’s priorities in shaping the Center’s Rural West Initiative, which explores the challenges facing the less populated regions of the North American West.

Elevating Western art and culture

While part of the Center’s research agenda certainly focuses on environmental and health issues, the arts have also come into sharper focus at the Bill Lane Center with Cain at its helm. Broadening the Center’s commitment to Western culture, Cain launched an ArtsWest initiative to spotlight creativity in the region through lectures, symposia, film screenings, and exhibitions. The program emphasizes Western-based artists and writers inspired by the region’s landscapes and ways of life. Innovation and diversity characterize past ArtsWest events, which include symposia on augmented/virtual reality; the legacy and influence of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and Edward Curtis on Art; the art and technology of Burning Man; women who transformed art in the West; and great writers like Jack London and John Steinbeck.

A beloved teacher, mentor and colleague

Perhaps most importantly, during his tenure as director Cain has prioritized his role as a teacher and mentor to Stanford students, advising them on research projects, building a robust internship program, leading Sophomore College trips, bringing them along on Rural West Conferences, co-teaching an interdisciplinary American West course, collaborating with Stanford partners to fund state and federal level Shultz Energy Fellowships, and more. Preeti Hehmeyer, the Center’s associate director from 2015 – 2021, expressed great admiration for Cain’s commitment to his students:

“Inside the classroom or in the field leading a Sophomore College, Bruce challenged students to truly understand the West from an interdisciplinary perspective,” Hehmeyer said. “As his former undergraduate RA at Cal, I have personally witnessed his enduring commitment to students, and to undergraduates, in particular. Bruce understands the incredible value of mentorship from senior faculty to hungry undergraduates and has made unrivaled investments to inspire and encourage the next generation of leaders in the American West. Of his many contributions to the Lane Center, I am most proud of working with Bruce, David Kennedy, and the Advisory Council to endow the Center’s undergraduate initiatives so that internships in the West and Sophomore Colleges will continue in perpetuity.”

Indeed, with the leadership of former Advisory Council Chair Nelson Ishiyama and Faculty Director Emeritus David Kennedy, Cain and Hehmeyer worked tirelessly to establish a permanent undergraduate program endowment, ensuring that Stanford students will have every opportunity to learn about, travel across, and potentially build careers in the American Western region, now and into the future. Current Advisory Council Chair Hope Eccles commented on the significance of Cain's dedication to undergraduates, which stands out at a university widely known for its outstanding graduate programs and research: "Bruce has left an indelible mark on the Lane Center.  His commitment to students--from teaching the Intro to the American West class to leading Sophomore Colleges to creating signature opportunities for students to experience the West firsthand—has made the Lane Center a home for undergraduates.  His leadership embraced interdisciplinary opportunities that have shown the influence of the West on everything from history to art to science.  It has been a joy to work with him for the past eleven years."

As noted by Hehmeyer and Eccles both, Cain leaves a legacy of leadership not only through his own contributions to the Lane Center, but by cultivating future Western leaders out of the passionate undergraduates whom the Center equips with the education and experiences necessary to steward the region forward.  

Bruce understands the incredible value of mentorship from senior faculty to hungry undergraduates and has made unrivaled investments to inspire and encourage the next generation of leaders in the American West.

For Cain, much of what it means to make progress on the greatest challenges facing the West has to do with public service. By encouraging students to understand and work with local governments, joint powers authorities, state energy agencies, air and water boards and the like, Cain has conveyed the complex relationship between science and policymaking. He has also helped many young people see the value and possibilities of public service careers.

“Students all over campus talk with great admiration and joy about Professor Cain,” wrote former student Hannah Zimmerman, ’21, who nominated Cain for a public service prize while at Stanford. “I do not think you would be able to find a professor on campus more dedicated to students, public service or their department,” Zimmerman added. Leonard Ortolano, who co-taught Environmental Governance and Climate Resilience with Cain in 2018, nominated him for the same prize: “Whether in the backcountry of Wyoming or the halls of the California State Capitol, Bruce engages students in exploring complex and interconnected topics such as public land management or energy-water nexus issues across international borders,” Ortolano remarked. Cain was named the winner of the Miriam Aaron Roland Volunteer Service Prize in 2019.

As much as Cain will be missed by the students and faculty he interfaces with as Lane Center director, he is equally beloved by a small administrative staff at the Lane Center who have appreciated his candor, fairness, humor and trust during the many years of his directorship.

Said Kate Gibson, current associate director of the Center, “The last four years working with Bruce have been some of the best of my career. Bruce is an amazing boss and mentor. He manages to walk the fine line of being absolutely 100% supportive while also giving you the space and autonomy to really spread your wings. Plus, his good nature, spirited sense of humor, and mischievous wit makes for a fun and intellectually stimulating work environment.”

Cain has devoted extraordinary time and energy to the Bill Lane Center as faculty director, and he steps down having touched the lives of impressionable students, venerable colleagues, and an endlessly appreciative staff and Advisory Council. Among them all, there is a broad consensus that Cain has gone above and beyond the call of duty:

“From Berkeley to DC to Stanford, I have never seen Bruce work harder than while directing the Bill Lane Center for the American West,” relayed Hehmeyer. “My favorite Bruce-ism about being Center director is that it is the perfect place for someone who has ‘more ideas than time.’ On any given day in Y2E2, Bruce was the rare faculty member whose door was always open. All day long, I would see students and colleagues streaming in like Grand Central Station to get his take on the research findings, the latest political news, offer career advice, or just to shoot the breeze.”

It comes as a great relief to those who know him or have worked with him during his time as Lane Center director that Cain will still be on campus teaching, writing, researching and mentoring students for years to come. For now, fortunately, it’s not “goodbye” to Bruce Cain, it’s just an enthusiastic and gratitude-filled “happy trails.”