Following his death from typhoid at age 15, he became the namesake of Stanford University, which is officially called Leland Stanford Junior University.

[2] Leland caught typhoid two months before his 16th birthday on a Grand Tour of Europe with his parents.

His parents rushed him to Italy for medical treatment, first to Naples, then to Rome, and eventually to Florence, where he died after weeks of a condition that alternately improved and worsened.

"[4][5][6] To honor their son, once they had returned to the United States, the Stanfords devoted their fortune to a memorial in his name, Leland Stanford Junior University, which opened its doors in 1891.

After the death of his father on June 21, 1893,[7] his mother guided the development of the university until her murder on February 28, 1905.