Alumni & Supporters

Our Past : Our Progress : Our Promise

The State University of New York is a quality public university that combines world-renowned faculty, dedicated staff, and a truly diverse body of talented students to pursue its mission in every corner of the state: "to learn, to search, to serve." SUNY Fast Facts

To Learn
The State University of New York offers its 413,000 students a wide diversity of educational options, from short-term vocational courses to post-doctoral studies. The University offers access to almost every field of academic or professional study somewhere within the system - some 6,650 courses of study overall. The range is astonishing - medicine, law, business, computers, environment, science, education, agriculture, fine arts, architecture, ceramics, and maritime studies, to name a few.

Students are pursuing traditional study in classrooms and laboratories or are working at home, at their own pace, through such innovative institutions as the SUNY Learning Network and Empire State College.

To Search
SUNY is home to the very best and brightest scholars, scientists, artists and professionals in the world. State University campuses boast nationally and internationally recognized figures whose efforts are regularly recognized through prestigious awards and honors, including four Nobel prizes.

These distinguished men and women undertake an active role in the generation of new knowledge through research. State University researchers pioneered nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and the supermarket bar code scanner, introduced time-lapse photography of forestry subjects, isolated the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, and developed the first implantable heart pacemaker.

The volume of research and other sponsored programs at SUNY has steadily increased over the past decade, reaching nearly $766 million in 2003. The State University of New York ranks 8th among U.S. patent-generating universities and ranks 14th among U.S. colleges and universities for royalties received on inventions licensed to industry.

To Serve
By their mere presence, State University campuses have a cultural and economic impact on their communities. SUNY research alone supports nearly 21,000 full- and part-time jobs in New York State.

The University numbers 2.4 million graduates on its rolls. The majority of the University's alumni reside and pursue careers in communities across New York State, contributing to the economic and social vitality of its people. Notable alumni include

• Wolf Blitzer (University at Buffalo, '70), Anchor, CNN's "Wolf Blitzer Reports"
  
• Renee Fleming (Potsdam, '81), world-renowned soprano, New York Metropolitan Opera
  
• Paul Reiser (Binghamton, '77), actor/writer/comedian
  
• Eileen Collins (Corning, '76), U.S. Air Force/NASA Astronaut

The five-year $2 billion Capital Plan that is just coming to conclusion has enabled the University to undertake more than 1,100 construction projects for laboratories, classrooms, art studios, stadiums, student centers and more at campuses across the state. Governor Pataki has proposed a new five-year plan with an additional $2.5 billion that would continue rebuilding the SUNY infrastructure through 2008, with as many as 1,200 new projects.

The State University is a key driver of economic development in the Northeast. Through strategic partnerships with business and industry, SUNY is advancing the technology economy of the 21st century. A prime example is the 300 mm wafer center at UAlbany, the home of International SEMATECH North, a joint $320 million five-year program between International SEMATECH and the University. From educating the workforce to joint research projects to licensing inventions that will become the products of tomorrow, SUNY is undoubtedly the economic engine that drives New York.

The State University of New York Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Affairs, philanthropy@suny.edu primary focus is to sustain the $3 Billion Challeng by providing support and services to the 64 campuses planning to conduct capital campaigns.

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