Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson Announces Departure of Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley, Jr., M.D.
May 28, 2019
Decision Follows Decade-Long Tenure Marked by Expansion, Faculty Recognition, and Research
Chancellor and Board of Trustees Soon to Appoint Interim President and Assemble Search Committee for Permanent President
Albany – State University of New York Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson announced today that Dr. Samuel L. Stanley, Jr., M.D., will step down as the president of Stony Brook University on July 31. His decision comes after a decade at the helm, where he advanced the university’s academic, athletic, and research success.
"President Stanley is a visionary leader who has taken Stony Brook University to new heights," said SUNY Chairman H. Carl McCall. "He spearheaded some of the university’s most successful fundraising campaigns, increased the number of endowed professorships, and strengthened Stony Brook’s stature as a leading research institution, especially in clean and renewable energy technologies. I’ve enjoyed working with President Stanley, and wish him well."
"Under Dr. Stanley’s leadership, Stony Brook University has become a vibrant center of research and one of the most highly regarded universities in the nation," said SUNY Chancellor Johnson. "His commitment to advancing technologies and research in environmental protection and renewable energy has been among many of Dr. Stanley’s most notable accomplishments. On behalf of the entire SUNY family, we celebrate his achievements."
Chancellor Johnson will work with the SUNY Board of Trustees to appoint an interim president. A campus search committee will be assembled to conduct a national search for a permanent president.
"It has been an honor and privilege to lead Stony Brook University and its amazing students, faculty, and staff over the past ten years. We have accomplished so much together. I am also very grateful to Chancellor Johnson, Chairman McCall, the SUNY Board of Trustees, the Stony Brook Foundation, and the Stony Brook Council for their strong support of all of our efforts at Stony Brook University during this time. With all of these extraordinary people who are committed to Stony Brook's success, I have the utmost confidence that Stony Brook University will continue its amazing trajectory over the next decade," said Dr. Stanley.
About Dr. Stanley
Dr. Stanley became the fifth president of Stony Brook in July 2009 after a national search. Under his direction, Stony Brook became one of the nation’s top universities for social mobility. A recent Stanford study on the impact of college on social mobility demonstrated that Stony Brook University was number three in the U.S. in helping students and their families go from the bottom 20 percent of income to the top 20 percent of income.
During his tenure, Stony Brook received the sixth-largest donation to a public university ever recorded. The $150 million gift came from Jim and Marilyn Simons and the Simons Foundation in 2011. President Stanley also led the university’s expansion into the growing field of artificial intelligence. Stony Brook recently launched the Institute for AI-Driven Discovery and Innovation, which is focused on developing research and educational initiatives in AI.
A Harvard-educated physician and native of Seattle, Dr. Stanley received his medical training at Massachusetts General Hospital. He completed a fellowship in infectious diseases at Washington University in St. Louis, where he later became a professor in the Departments of Medicine and Molecular Microbiology. Before coming to Stony Brook, he was the vice chancellor for research at Washington University.
In addition to his work in academia, Dr. Stanley is a renowned medical researcher who specialized in emerging infectious diseases and the body’s inflammatory response to parasites, bacteria, and viruses.
Dr. Stanley also serves as the board chairman of the Brookhaven Science Associates, which oversees the Brookhaven National Laboratory on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy. He is a member of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Long Island Regional Economic Development Council as well.
About Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University is going beyond the expectations of what today’s public universities can accomplish. Since its founding in 1957, this young university has grown to become one of only four University Center campuses in the State University of New York (SUNY) system with over 26,000 students, more than 2,700 faculty members and 18 NCAA Division I athletic programs. Our faculty have earned numerous prestigious awards, including the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation, Abel Prize and the inaugural Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics. The University offers students an elite education with an outstanding return on investment: U.S. News & World Report ranks Stony Brook among the top 40 public universities in the nation. Its membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU) places Stony Brook among the top 62 research institutions in North America. As part of the management team of Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University joins a prestigious group of universities that have a role in running federal R&D labs. Stony Brook University fuels Long island’s economic growth. Its impact on the Long island economy amounts to $7.38 billion in increased output. Our state, country and world demand ambitious ideas, imaginative solutions and exceptional leadership to forge a better future for all. The students, alumni, researchers and faculty of Stony Brook University are prepared to meet this challenge.
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.
Share this:
Holly Liapis
518-320-1311
Email the Office of Communications
