Chancellor Zimpher Announces $8 Million To Recruit Top Faculty Researchers

March 2, 2016

Campus Awards Provided By SUNY’s Investment and Performance Fund

Albany – State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher today announced approximately $8 million awarded to SUNY campuses from the university system’s Investment and Performance Fund. Awards will contribute to the expansion of the Empire Innovation Program (EIP), which supports campus efforts to recruit faculty researchers with a proven track record of externally funded research to SUNY.

"The campus programs funded through the Investment and Performance Fund speak volumes about SUNY’s capacity to bring students the best that higher education has to offer," said Chancellor Zimpher. "SUNY is committed to pushing the boundaries of research and our faculty are a catalyst for our future success. Congratulations to each of the campuses receiving awards to support their ongoing success under the Empire Innovation Program."

"Investing in programs such as EIP directly correlates with what our completion agenda sets out to do – attract students and challenge them to higher degrees of inquiry," said SUNY Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Alexander N. Cartwright. "Through the programs awarded today, we are supporting the next generation of researchers who will work with hired research faculty."

SUNY’s Empire Innovation Program supports campus efforts to recruit the world’s most talented faculty researchers with a proven track record of externally funded research to SUNY. EIP scholars drive innovation, enhance partnerships with business and industry, increase tech transfer, create opportunities for student research, and increase the competitiveness of SUNY’s professional and graduate education programs. Investment and Performance Fund awards will enable campuses to create competitive start-up packages, including research and lab equipment, postdocs and grad students, research staff, and travel expenses, as they continue to recruit scholars of the highest caliber.

Awards announced today are as follows:

Central New York Region

Upstate Medical Center will receive $650,000 in EIP funds, in addition to a previously announced award of $575,000, to establish the SUNY Institute for Precision Cancer Research, Education, and Care (IPCREC). SUNY Upstate will collaborate with campuses throughout SUNY as the Institute is developed.

Finger Lakes Region

State University College at Geneseo will receive $249,000 in EIP funds to support a cluster hire of up to five new faculty members in integrative computational analysis.

Long Island Region

Stony Brook University will receive $650,000 in EIP funds to create a Center for Frontiers in Nuclear Science (CFNS); $650,000 in EIP funds to establish an extreme-scale computing program; and $650,000 in EIP funds to recruit a master innovator in experimental Atomic, Molecular and Optical (AMO) Physics and establish a Center for Ultra-Fast Spectroscopy and Dynamics.

New York City Region

Downstate Medical Center and Upstate Medical Center will receive $1.3 million in EIP funds to staff a combined genomic medicine program. Collaborating SUNY campuses may include University at Albany, University at Buffalo, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Oswego, and Stony Brook University.

Southern Tier Region

Binghamton University will receive $250,000 in EIP funds, in addition to a previously announced award of $350,000, for the appointment of a leading faculty researcher in a STEM field to support the Freshman Research Immersion courses and Summer Research Immersion programs offered to Broome Community College students.

The SUNY College of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University will receive $500,000 in EIP funds to recruit the next generation of leading scholars in the field of labor economics.

Western New York Region

Alfred Ceramics will receive $350,000 in EIP funds to support start-up costs for a new EIP Scholar in the Inamori School of Engineering.

University at Buffalo will receive $1.3 million in EIP funds to hire three senior faculty members in the Department of Biomedical Engineering; and $1.3 million in EIP funds to hire six senior faculty members in the recently established Research and Education in Energy, Environment, and Water (RENEWE) Institute.

About the Investment and Performance Fund
The SUNY Investment and Performance Fund was first established by an $18 million allocation in the 2015-16 New York State Budget. In an effort to grow the Fund and extend eligibility to its community colleges, SUNY also pooled from existing resources – the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), Open SUNY, the Empire Innovation Program, and $55 million from the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant Program – to create a $100 million Expanded Investment and Performance Fund.

SUNY previously announced awards generated by the $18 million State investment, as well as $4.6 million awarded to SUNY campuses in the North Country region and $2.4 million in Education Opportunity Program Awards for Campuses. All of the Investment and Performance Fund awards announced to date can be found online at www.suny.edu/investment-fund.

All funding is designed to support commitments campuses have made in their individual Performance Improvement Plans, part of the SUNY Excels performance management system.

About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2023, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.