STONY BROOK, N.Y., June 8, 2005 - Shirley Strum Kenny, president of Stony Brook University, announced today that the University is embarking on a five-year $300 million capital campaign. It is the first capital campaign in the 47-year history of the University and one of the largest for an institution in the State University of New York system.
Stony Brook has already raised $102 million toward its goal in the silent phase of the campaign. Traditionally, colleges and universities have one-third of their goal in hand prior to making a formal announcement of a capital campaign.
A significant portion of the funds will be earmarked to create endowed professorships and for student scholarships and fellowships. The campaign will also support the creation of new laboratories and other research facilities at both the University and Stony Brook University Hospital, athletic programs and other student initiatives, and other programs.
In addition, monies will be allocated for the Center for Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology, designated by Gov. George Pataki as an engine for high-technology research and economic growth on Long Island.
The campaign is part of the $3 billion effort initiated by SUNY for its 64 campuses across the State.
"This is truly an exciting opportunity for the University and for me personally,” said Dr. Kenny. “Our efforts on behalf of this campaign over the next five years will ensure Stony Brook's future. Indeed, it is vitally important — to our continued success as one of the world's premier universities, to our ability to develop the research that has made Stony Brook a place of discovery, to advancing our role in educating the workforce that makes businesses strong, and to enhancing the university as the economic engine for the region."
"Stony Brook has come a very long way in a very short time. Under the leadership of Shirley Kenny, Stony Brook has become one of the great public universities in the US," said Richard L. Gelfond, co-CEO of the IMAX Corporation, Chair of the Stony Brook Foundation Board of Trustees and a 1976 alumnus of Stony Brook. "Now is precisely the right time to undertake a capital campaign of this magnitude. With a successful capital campaign and adequate State support, Stony Brook can achieve even more."
The campaign will enable Stony Brook to build upon the dramatic period of academic and physical growth it has experienced over the past decade. The Institute for Higher Education in Shanghai recently ranked Stony Brook among the top 150 universities in the world. In addition, the London Times Higher Education Supplement, in a rating of the best science universities globally, ranked Stony Brook No. 76 in the world, 21st in the U.S. and 10th among U.S. public universities. Moreover, in a general ranking of the more than 8,300 universities worldwide, the London Times ranked Stony Brook 136th, and in the top 50 in North America. It ranked 33rd worldwide in research impact. It was the only SUNY school so honored.
On the physical side, under President Kenny's leadership, new buildings have been constructed, including the Centers for Molecular Medicine, Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium, and the Charles B. Wang Center. The Student Activities Center has been expanded. The existing residence halls have undergone an $81 million renovation and nine new residence halls have also been built.
Moreover, the campus has been beautified, athletic programs are now Division I, and student life has vastly improved. The Staller Center on campus hosts an acclaimed annual Film Festival.
Stony Brook has also become the economic powerhouse driving the Long Island economy and it has a $2.5 billion impact on the local, state, and regional economy. The University co-manages Brookhaven National Lab — making SBU one of only six institutions in America managing a national lab. SBU annually ranks in the top 15 in the nation in revenue derived from licensing of technology.
Stony Brook also is home to several unique programs, including the Center for Wine, Food and Culture — the first university-based center of its kind; the Center for India Studies, and, in conjunction with the renowned anthropologist Dr. Richard Leakey, the Stony Brook World Environmental Forum. In addition, the world-famous Emerson String Quartet is now the official Artists-in-Residence at the University. An Asian and Asian American cultural center, established with a more than $50 million gift from entrepreneur Charles B. Wang, opened in 2002. The gift is the largest single contribution ever given to a SUNY institution.
Stony Brook University Medical Center has built an ambulatory center, a new Heart Center, and a new orthopedics unit, and is building a new cancer/imaging center as part of a comprehensive renovation and modernization — its first renovation since it opened in 1980.
On a national and international level, President Kenny brought Stony Brook great renown as chairman of the landmark Boyer Commission on Reinventing Undergraduate Education. The Commission's findings have transformed undergraduate education at universities in America and throughout the world, with particular progress made to incorporate research opportunities for undergraduates. Moreover, it has made significant impact on helping faculty improve their teaching and enhancing the classroom experience.
Other notable Stony Brook achievements include:
Dr. Shirley Strum Kenny is the first woman and first humanist to serve as President of Stony Brook University. After a distinguished career as a literary scholar, teacher, and academic administrator, she came to Stony Brook as its fourth President in 1994. Since then, she has worked to strengthen the core academic and research operations of the University, fostered close links with business and industry, and established new working relationships with the Long Island community.
Concerned about the state of undergraduate education at major research universities, Dr. Kenny headed a national initiative to address the issue. She launched and chaired the Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University with funding from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The Commission's report, Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A Blueprint for America's Research Universities (1998), advocated a model of education that would engage students with the resources unique to such institutions and lead them to conduct research themselves. Stony Brook is currently reorganizing its undergraduate curriculum along the lines recommended by the Boyer Report.
Total enrollment at Stony Brook University has increased from 17,000 to 22,000 during Dr. Kenny's presidency; faculty numbers are up 8%. In 2003, the average SAT scores of incoming freshmen rose above 1200. Complete biography »