Courtesy of Stony Brook University
STONY BROOK,
N.Y. ? Stony Brook University President Dr. Shirley
Strum Kenny, who, during a tenure of 14 years, has guided the
institution to national and international acclaim as one of the top
public institutions and who has similarly helped transform
undergraduate education across the country as chairman of the landmark
Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research
University, has announced that she will retire from Stony Brook at the
end of the 2008-9 academic year.
“Shirley has
been a creative and visionary leader who has brought Stony Brook to the
highest levels of public universities in the nation,” said Richard L.
Gelfond, chair of the Stony Brook Foundation Board, co-chair and co-CEO
of IMAX Corp., and an alumnus. “Indeed, the changes that have occurred
on campus and in the classrooms during her tenure are nothing short of
astonishing. They could not have happened without Shirley’s passion,
energy, and commitment.
“At the same time, I know she has been thinking about this for
awhile,” Mr. Gelfond said. “In fact, she came to me last fall and told
me that she was planning on stepping down at the end of this past
academic year in May, but I and others persuaded her to reconsider. We
tried again this time, but her mind is set. I understand and respect
that, even though Stony Brook will be losing a leader of prodigious
talent and foresight.”
Indeed, through Dr. Kenny’s leadership the University earned
designation as one of only two “flagship” institutions of the 64-school
State University of New York system. It also developed into one of the
top public research universities in the country, as evidenced by its
selection for admission into the Association of American Universities,
the invitation-only organization comprising just such institutions, and
its ranking among the top two percent of universities worldwide by both
The London Times and the Shanghai Higher Education Institute.
Befitting such lofty status, the University was chosen as
co-manager of Brookhaven National Laboratory, joining Princeton,
Cornell, U. of Chicago, Stanford and UC-Berkeley in managing a
Department of Energy Laboratory. And most recently, Dr. Kenny initiated
a unique research alliance between Stony Brook, Brookhaven, and Cold
Spring Harbor Laboratory, bringing together world-class federal, state,
and private research campuses to work together on cutting-edge programs
in genetics, cancer, neuroscience and other areas of mutual but
individual strengths.
These are quite remarkable achievements, made even more so
considering that when Dr. Kenny was elected Stony Brook’s president in
1994, the institution was mired in significant debt and maintained a
structural deficit. With her steady hand and a far-reaching vision, the
University quickly righted its ship and, since that time, it has
undergone a remarkable physical, academic, intellectual, and cultural
makeover.
“These have been the most amazing and satisfying 14 years of my
professional career,” said Dr. Kenny, a literary scholar, teacher and
academic administrator who became the first woman, and first
non-scientist, to be elected Stony Brook’s President. “The University
has come very far, and I take great pride in what has been accomplished
with the outstanding teamwork and commitment of every member of the
Stony Brook family, from students, faculty, and staff to Board members,
alumni, donors, community residents, and elected officials.”
With Stony Brook solidly entrenched as an academic and research
leader in the State and nationally and continuing to move forward to
fulfill the late Governor Rockefeller’s vision for it to stand “among
the finest in the land,” Dr. Kenny said “this is the right time for me
to step down. It will be 15 years at the end of my tenure, and that is
quite a lengthy term for a university president. I look forward to
spending more time with my family, and becoming more engaged in the
national debate on the future of education in America.”
There is no debating what Dr. Kenny has meant to Stony Brook.
Under her direction, the University has undertaken unprecedented
expansion. The campus has been physically transformed, with an
extensive building and landscaping program. Two new campuses have
opened ? Stony Brook Southampton, the 82-acre former home of LIU’s
Southampton College that is now dedicated to issues of sustainability,
and Stony Brook Manhattan ? as has a 246-acre research park. A new
student center, dormitories, and athletic stadium are among other
state-of-the-art facilities that have been constructed.
Stony Brook has experienced an impressive surge in applications
and enrollment, with major increases in SAT scores and
grade-point-averages. There have been significant academic programs
added, including the opening of the only journalism school in SUNY.
Faculty enhancements have been similarly substantial, including the
appointments of such world-renowned scholars as paleo-anthropologist
Richard Leakey; former Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage,
Donny George; Billy Collins, former Poet Laureate of the U.S., and the
award-winning Emerson String Quartet.
Further, the University has developed important business and
community linkages, including the Stony Brook/Brookhaven/Cold Spring
Harbor alliance. Moreover, Stony Brook has become the largest employer
on Long Island, generating nearly 60,000 jobs. The University maintains
a $1.8 billion budget and an economic impact of over $4.7 billion on
the region or nearly four percent of all economic activity in Nassau
and Suffolk counties.
The University’s fundraising has realized similar achievements. It
is completing a $300 million capital campaign, highlighted by a $60
million gift earlier this year from prominent financier and former
mathematics department chairman Dr. Jim Simons and his wife Marilyn, a
Ph.D. alumna. It was both the largest gift in Stony Brook’s history and
the largest gift ever given to any one of the 64 SUNY institutions. The
second largest gift to any SUNY institution -- $50 million ? was also
to Stony Brook, from computer software executive Charles B. Wang.
“Years ago, Stony Brook provided me with a faculty position and
the opportunity to both pursue my research and build one of the best
math departments in the country,” said Jim Simons. “Although I have
since gone on to other endeavors, Shirley Kenny has always made sure
that Marilyn and I feel at home here at Stony Brook. And because of the
pieces that Shirley has put into place and her unflagging commitment to
academic excellence, Marilyn and I knew that making this gift would
provide an excellent opportunity for mathematics and physics at Stony
Brook to reach the very highest level.”
On the national level, Dr. Kenny launched and chaired the Boyer
Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University. Its
landmark study, “Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A Blueprint for
America’s Research Universities,” has resulted in a sea change in
undergraduate education at research universities in America.
Dr. Kenny was formally recognized last year for her “extraordinary
leadership and civic and cultural contributions,” receiving the
prestigious Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal. Joining her as
honorees were Craig R. Barrett, chairman of Intel Corporation, and John
Hope Franklin, the eminent historian, author, and Presidential Medal of
Freedom recipient.
To view President Shirley Strum Kenny’s bio, please go to: www.stonybrook.edu/sb/presbio.shtml