With Deep Appreciation For Our Seawolf Community
April 27, 2026
Dear Stony Brook Community,
Inauguration Week was a moment for us as a university community to share and showcase the excellence, breadth and impact of Stony Brook, from Manhattan to Montauk, to a very broad audience. Your presence, your pride, and your engagement brought this celebration to life. Today, a full week after the events concluded, I am still floating on air as I reflect on the many experiences that truly captured how exceptional our university is in every dimension of research, education, healthcare, and service.
There are no words to sufficiently describe how deeply moved and grateful I am for what was a reflection of the spirit and reach of Stony Brook throughout Inauguration Week. Thank you for the enthusiasm, curiosity, support and Seawolf spirit you brought to every event.
I am especially grateful to everyone who planned the week’s events and who worked behind the scenes or in front of them to ensure that every detail was considered and every activity perfectly executed. You showed our guests, and one another, not only the strength and momentum of Stony Brook but also what is truly special about our university: the kindness, warmth, and community spirit of its people. If you missed the live sessions or want to revisit these insightful events and discussions, you can access the recordings linked here.
When I first stepped on stage during my formal investiture and looked out across the crowd gathered in the Stony Brook Arena, I was overcome with joy, inspiration, pride and deep gratitude to all the Seawolves, our leaders representing local and state government and the State University of New York system, my family, friends, and colleagues from across my career, and many more dedicated supporters of this very special university. I will cherish and carry the exuberant emotions of that day, that week and every day since being named Stony Brook’s president with me for a lifetime. I could not have imagined anything more perfect as a celebration of my investiture as well as the past, present and future of this exceptional university.
As I said during my Investiture address, together, including every Stony Brook partner and supporter, we will achieve our aspiration to be one of the best public universities in the nation and a powerful force for good. We will continue to say yes to taking on challenges, to accelerating discovery, and to pushing the limits of our excellence and impact across the dimensions of education, research, healthcare, and service.
Together, we are writing the next chapter in Stony Brook’s powerful story. Our aspiration for Stony Brook, the number one public university in the great state of New York, to be the model for American possibility and progress is bold but within our reach.
Thank you for your partnership, your pride, and the commitment you bring to this remarkable institution every day. I am honored to serve as your seventh president, and I look forward to the work we will continue to do together.
With my deepest appreciation,
Andrea Goldsmith
President