President Andrea Goldsmith Delivers 2025 Stony Brook University State of the University Address: “Accelerating Excellence & Impact”

STONY BROOK, NY - September 29, 2025 - Today, Stony Brook University President Andrea Goldsmith formally introduced herself at her first State of the University address, speaking to students, faculty, staff, healthcare workers, elected representatives and local guests. In her presentation, "Accelerating Excellence & Impact," she spoke about what she sees as Stony Brook's roles now and going forward in the future and that the university has an "entrepreneurial spirit…one that is ambitious, optimistic and bold."

President Goldsmith officially joined the university in August, and today, shared her background including that her own education had been exclusively in public schools, from kindergarten through graduate school. "I am so grateful for the outstanding public education I have received at a price I could afford, which served as the bedrock for all my future successes. And serving as your president is an opportunity for me to give back to public education," said President Goldsmith. She also talked about her previous roles in higher education and as a technology entrepreneur with two start-up wireless communications businesses.

President Goldsmith spoke of the promise she saw at Stony Brook even prior to being selected as president and why by joining and working with students, faculty and staff she has met since arriving, she feels honored to work with the university community to "accelerate Stony Brook's excellence and impact across all dimensions of education, research, healthcare and service to our community, the great state of New York, the country and the world."

President Goldsmith's interactions with students have been rewarding. "Not only are they highly aspirational and extremely talented, but they are also truly grateful to be here. They have told me that they so appreciate that they are getting an excellent and affordable education at a place where they feel they belong, and where they can thrive." She went on to explain that many of the university's students are first generation college attendees with over forty percent of undergraduates coming from economically disadvantaged families who receive federal Pell Grants and "what a powerful role Stony Brook has, in partnership with the State University of New York, in making an excellent, affordable education accessible to students from every single background."

The president also expressed her vision about increasing the university's impact and presence in the region. "Just think what would be possible if we execute our strategic vision for Stony Brook from the heart of New York City, the greatest city in the world, to the eastern tip of Long Island. We have a desire to ignite our Southampton campus with expanded educational and cultural programming and by building a new hospital there. In New York City on Governors Island, we are leading the New York Climate Exchange and its bold aspirations to unlock solutions for mitigating climate change at speed and scale to address this existential threat to humanity. And we expect to expand our presence in New York City beyond the Climate Exchange to increase our reach and influence. As we do, we will accelerate Stony Brook's access, impact and excellence from Manhattan to Montauk."

The president also identified current momentum happening at the university: the recently named Quantum Research and Innovation Hub announced by Governor Kathy Hochul; Stony Brook Children's Hospital being named the number one children's hospital in New York State and the seventh best in the nation and the public-private partnership with Empire State Development and onsemi, the global leader in semiconductors that will result in a leading-edge research and development facility on the campus.

President Goldsmith shared her strategic vision that she developed to help define the acceleration of Stony Brook's success in the future by using ABCs and describing these pillars:

• "A": Accelerating Stony University's excellence in research, education, healthcare and service to our community and beyond.

• "B": Build new facilities to support our research and education mission. Build our faculty and student populations to educate more New Yorkers and to advance the frontiers of knowledge in more dimensions. Build on Stony Brook's successes to further elevate our excellence and impact.

• "C": Catalyze [by] leveraging the university's research excellence and remarkable people to ignite innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth, from Manhattan to Montauk and throughout this great state.

The President also addressed the university's role in advancing local and state economic development efforts and that the university drives research in collaboration with industry partners. "There's so much opportunity for Stony Brook to bring big companies, startups and every in-between size of company to this great state, increasing our ties to industry, from major established companies… to new start-ups… [which] will allow us to leverage our research and education as a public good that fuels economic growth, prosperity, security and our well-being."

President Goldsmith closed by asking the audience to envision Stony Brook in 2035. "I want Stony Brook to signal excellence and impact across every discipline for everyone in the United States and around the world. But to achieve our bold vision requires all of you to be all in. And we're going to start right now. I will need some help from all of you." said the president. She asked the audience to "help shape it; help build it and help lead it."

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About Stony Brook University

The State University of New York at Stony Brook is New York's flagship university and No. 1 public university. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. -With more than 27,000 students, more than 3,000 faculty members, more than 225,000 alumni, a premier academic healthcare system and 18 NCAA Division I athletic programs, Stony Brook is a research-intensive distinguished center of innovation dedicated to addressing the world's biggest challenges. The university embraces its mission to provide comprehensive undergraduate, graduate and professional education of the highest quality, and is ranked as the #59 overall university and #26 among public universities in the nation by U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges listing. Fostering a commitment to academic research and intellectual endeavors, Stony Brook's membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU) places it among the top 71 research institutions in North America. The university's distinguished faculty have earned esteemed awards such as the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation, Abel Prize, Fields Medal and Breakthrough Prizes in Mathematics and Physics. Stony Brook has the responsibility of co-managing Brookhaven National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy - one of only eight universities with a role in running a national laboratory. In 2023, Stony Brook was named the anchor institution for The New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island in New York City. Providing economic growth for neighboring communities and the wider geographic region, the university totals an impressive $8.93 billion in increased economic output on Long Island. Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stonybrooku/ and X@stonybrooku.