Previous Gala Honorees
Astrophysicist and the author of the #1 bestselling books Starry Messenger and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry Director, Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History Two-time host of the beloved TV series Cosmos — rebooting the original 1980 series hosted by Carl Sagan Host and cofounder of the popular Emmy-nominated podcast StarTalk and its spinoff StarTalk Sports Edition Recipient of 23 honorary doctorates, the Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences, and the Distinguished Public Service Medal from NASA
Laurie Landeau, VMD, MBA
President and Director, Laurie Landeau Foundation LLC
President and Director, Ralph Landau Foundation
Vice Chair, Stony Brook Foundation Board of Trustees
Robert J. Maze, PhD
Vice President and Director, Laurie Landeau Foundation LLC
Vice President and Director, Ralph Landau Foundation
Chair, SoMAS
John L. Hennessy ’75, ’77
President Emeritus and James F. and Mary Lynn Gibbons
Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering,
Stanford University
HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco
Sovereign Prince of Monaco
President, Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation
Barry S. Coller, MD, Hon. 03
David Rockefeller Professor of Medicine, Physician in Chief,
Vice President for Medical Affairs The Rockefeller University
Bobbi Coller, PhD
Advisory Board Chairperson of the Stony Brook Foundation’s Pollock-Krasner House and
Study Center
2019
Marilyn H. Simons '74, PhD '84, Hon. '08
President, Simons Foundation
2018
Dorothy Lichtenstein, Hon. '14
President
Roy Lichtenstein Foundation
2017
Joseph R. Biden
Former Vice President
United States of America
2016
Glenn Dubin '78, Hon. '12
Founder, Dubin & Co. LP
Eva Andersson-Dubin, MD
Founder, Dubin Breast Center,
Mount Sinai Medical Center
Joe Nathan '97
Major League Baseball Pitcher
2015
Jane Fonda
Actress
2014
Patricia C. Wright
Professor, Anthropology
Founder, Centre ValBio
2013
Alan Alda
Actor, Director, Writer
Visiting Professor
Stony Brook University
2012
Pollock-Krasner Foundation
Ed Harris
Actor
2011
Julie Andrews
Actress
Emma Walton Hamilton
Author and Professor
Stony Brook Southampton
2010
C.N. Yang, PhD, Hon. '99
Nobel Laureate, Physics, 1957
Professor Emeritus
2009
Shirley Strum Kenny, PhD
President, Stony Brook University
2008
Nancy Rauch Douzinas, PhD
President, Rauch Foundation
2007
Richard Leakey, Hon. '98
Paleoanthropologist and Conservationist
2006
Erwin P. Staller, Hon. '01
CEO, Staller Associates Inc.
Cary F. Staller, Esq.
President, Staller Associates Inc.
2005
James H. Simons, PhD, Hon. '92
Founder
Renaissance Technologies
2004
Henry B. Laufer, PhD
Chief Scientist
Renaissance Technologies
Marsha Zlatin Laufer, PhD
Speech-Language Pathologist (Ret.)
2003
Debra A. Cody
Matthew J. Cody
General Partner (Ret.)
Spear, Leeds & Kellogg
2002
Charles B. Wang
Co-Founder, CA Technologies Inc.
Owner, New York Islanders
2001
Jerome L. Swartz, PhD
Founder, Symbol Technologies
2000
Richard L. Gelfond '76
Chair, Stony Brook Foundation
CEO, IMAX Corporation