Stanford student found dead is son of a university professor and an administrator

PALO ALTO - The undergraduate student found dead in a campus fraternity over the weekend is the son of a Stanford University professor and an administrator at the school.

University officials on Monday identified the student in a letter - whose death is still shrouded in mystery - as Eitan Michael Weiner, son of associate professor of history Amir Weiner and associate vice president for medical center development Julia Erwin-Weiner.

Authorities are still investigating the death of the Stanford sophomore, who was found unresponsive inside a resident hall on Lomita Drive at about 10:15 a.m. Friday.

Palo Alto firefighters pronounced him dead minutes later.

Though a preliminary investigation by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office found no signs of foul play, vice provost for student affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole said in a letter that “it may be some time before the coroner can definitively establish the cause of death.”

Brubaker-Cole also said the university has been working closely with Weiner's parents to arrange services, including a private funeral to be held on Wednesday followed by a public memorial beginning at 12:30 p.m. Friday in the Tresidder Oak Lounge.

She added that the university is standing by to provide services to the student's friends, housemates, and classmates.

“While I did not have the pleasure of knowing Eitan, I have been learning about him through his friends and family, who say he was full of love, joy, wit, curiosity and loyalty as a son, brother and friend,” Brubaker-Cole said in the letter. “Inspiring yet humble, he was incredibly well-read and deeply interested in history, politics and current events.”