Firstly, Standford does not have an affirmative action hiring policy with regards to their dean of education, so this ought to be moot. Secondly, in a field wi

Firstly, Standford does not have an affirmative action hiring policy with regards to their dean of education, so this ought to be moot. Secondly, in a field with so many incredibly talented and well recommended individuals, hiring is hard and there's no way to objectively determine who is the best. So we try hard to filter down candidates, and in the end pick someone knowing that at the very least we've chosen someone utterly amazing.