Office of the Provost

Leadership Update: Celia Marshik to become SBU senior vice provost

November 3, 2026

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to share that I am promoting Celia Marshik to Senior Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School.

As senior vice provost, she will expand her capacity to lead cross-disciplinary academic initiatives, strengthen external partnerships such as our relationship with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and broaden her engagement as a representative of the Provost with various external academic councils and alliances.

Since May 2022, Celia has served as Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School, first as interim and then appointed permanently to the role in May 2023. Celia will continue to lead the Graduate School in her capacity as dean, alongside her role as senior vice provost.

In her four years of leadership, Celia has significantly strengthened and advanced graduate education at Stony Brook. Under her leadership, the Graduate School team has greatly expanded and enhanced the university's support of graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty and graduate programs.

Highlights of her leadership include:

  • Student and Scholar Support: Established student support initiatives including the Graduate Student Hardship Fund, the Graduate Student On-Ramp, and the GradConnect series; introduced traditions to build community such as Doctoral Student Convocation, Welcome Back BBQ, and Graduate Student Appreciation Week; created a dedicated postdoctoral scholars council and successfully established a new minimum salary scale.
  • Curriculum and Admissions: Streamlined curriculum review processes, including implementing online submission workflows that supported departments in updating nearly all outdated graduate program curricula; integrated graduate admissions back under the Graduate School; and introduced holistic admissions practices across graduate programs, partially supported by a Sloan seed grant.
  • Faculty Mentoring and Education: Expanded Research Mentor Training to all new faculty; introduced Culturally Aware Mentoring in partnership with the Center for Inclusive Education; and enhanced support for institutional training grants.
  • Fellowships and Awards: Advanced fellowship and award support, leading to recognition as a Fulbright Top Producing Institution and helping students secure approximately $1M annually in external awards.

Please join me in congratulating Celia on this new role and thanking her for her outstanding leadership.

Sincerely, 

Carl

Carl W. Lejuez

Executive Vice President and Provost