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Lou attended a lecture by a 
famous geologist from Stanford University. What Professor J.C. Branner had to say in that lecture struck a chord deep within Lou. He spoke to the students about a subject dear to her. After the speech, Lou approached Dr. Branner, and told him of her love of the outdoors and she also inquired about the study of geology for a woman. With Dr. Branner's encouragement, and that of her parents, Lou Henry enrolled in the Department of Geology at Stanford University. She was the first woman in that major at Stanford. Among her studies was Latin, one subject that would later prove invaluable to her.
While at Stanford, Lou met a senior assistant of Dr. Branner named Herbert Hoover. Hoover was one of the pioneer students at Stanford since he would be in its first graduating class.
At a dinner hosted by Dr. and Mrs. Branner, Lou and Herbert found out that they had quite a bit in common. They had been born within 100 miles of each other in Iowa, they were both geology majors, and they both loved to fish. In Lou Henry, Herbert Hoover saw a young woman who was self-reliant and able to live the life of a geologist.
After graduating from Stanford in 1898 with a degree in geology, Lou returned to her family home in Monterey. It was here that she received a cabled proposal of marriage from "Bert" Hoover. Herbert Hoover was to come to California from Australia via London to marry Lou, and right after the wedding they were to board a ship that was sailing to China!
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Last updated: August 15, 2007