Actress Cameron Diaz pays a surprise visit to Wallenberg environmental class

Sophomore engineering student Lauren Schneider is still kicking herself for skipping class last week. Even though a friend called to tell her to be sure not to miss it, Schneider wasn’t feeling well, and she knew she could get notes from a classmate. What she didn’t know was that actress Cameron Diaz and a television crew from mtvU’s new show, “Stand In,” would be joining the class, “Maintaining Sustainable Building Projects,” taking place this fall quarter in Wallenberg Hall.

“Week four of the quarter was hitting me hard and I was severely sleep-deprived and getting sick,” says Schneider.  “I woke up Thursday morning at 8:30, right when class was starting.  I decided, after Professor Fischer's urgings not to be late to class…I picked the wrong day to sleep in!”

Students knew something was up when they arrived for class and found the Peter Wallenberg Learning Theater unusually crowded for 8:30 a.m. TV cameras poised at the front of the two-story high technology-rich learning theater were another give away that it wasn’t a typical morning for Associate Professor Martin Fischer’s class.

Consulting professor of civil and environmental engineering William McDonough was already present to give a guest lecture when there was a knock on the door and actress Diaz entered the room to gasps of delight from students and onlookers.

With cameras rolling Diaz, a friend of McDonough’s and an avid environmentalist, co-lead the 90 minute class. Diaz shared her world travels for her MTV series, “Trippin,” and described the ecological communities and projects she has seen. McDonough, a world renowned architect and designer, discussed the sustainable development movement and civil engineering techniques being used to help protect the environment.

MTV’s 24-hour college network, mtvU, came to Stanford as part of its ongoing series of visits to university campuses across the country. At each location a “Stand In” celebrity teacher surprises a college class in a subject area that fits his or her interests and experiences. Other “Stand In” teachers have included Bill Gates, Tom Wolfe and Sting.

The Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning (SCIL), which is housed in Wallenberg Hall, provides technical and academic support to anyone teaching in the advanced resource classrooms. In the past year, Wallenberg Hall has been the setting for courses from more than 24 departments, taught by 106 instructors and faculty members.

“Stand In” with Cameron Diaz and William McDonough will be available on-demand on mtvU’s broadband network “mtvU Uber” at: www.mtvu.com beginning Nov. 1.

The program will air on mtvU at 9:00 a.m. on Nov. 2.

Browse photos of the class at: http://www.stanford.edu/~bobsmith/Oct20/

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