Progress is being made toward identifying Stony Brook University’s next leader.
In an email sent to the campus community on Wednesday, Kevin Law, the chair of the council and the chair of the newly-formed presidential search committee, wrote following SUNY policies and procedures, a presidential search committee has been assembled and an executive search firm to add in the process has been selected.
“The Search Committee has been established to represent the whole of the institution,” Law wrote. “The members are committed to conducting a search that will yield an accomplished, visionary, and inspirational president to lead Stony Brook University as it continues its forward trajectory as one of the top public research universities in the United States.”
The search committee will meet for the first time on Sept. 30, where SUNY Chancellor John B. King, Jr. will give the committee their formal assignment — setting the agenda for the committee moving forward.
Currently, Stony Brook is being led by Interim President Richard McCormick, who previously served as the president of Rutgers University and the University of Washington, as well as provost of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Who is on the presidential search committee?
The presidential committee has 25 members. Among them, five serve on the Stony Brook Council: Linda Armyn, Christopher Hahn, Errol Toulon, Jr. and Law.
Seven faculty members also sit on the committee: Paolo Celli, Richard Larson, Joseph Mitchell, Benedict Robinson, Stella Tsirka, Axel Drees, Esther Takeuchi and Kathleen Monahan.
Barry Coller, Richard Gelfond and Marilyn Simons, all members of the Stony Brook Foundation, will also serve on the committee.
Peter Igarashi, Dean of the Renaissance School of Medicine, and Celia Marshik, Dean of the Graduate School, are both members of the committee.
Carol Gomes, CEO of the Stony Brook University Hospital, and JoAnne Hewett, the director of Brookhaven National Laboratory, are also on the committee.
The committee also includes Erwin Cabrera, the executive director of the Simons STEM Scholars Program, and Kimberly Dixon, the director of Employer Engagement and Diversity Recruitment at the Stony Brook Career Center.
Siya Gandhi, a senior majoring in psychology, will serve as the committee’s undergraduate student representative, while Chiagoziem Okolo, a second-year medical student, will serve as the committee’s graduate student representative.
Kimberly Jean-Pierre, a member of the New York Senate for the 11th district, will serve as an alumni representative for the committee. She graduated from Stony Brook with an MA in public policy in 2007.
Satish Tripathi, the president of the University at Buffalo, will also serve on the committee as the Chancellor’s Designee.
Four staff members will also serve a supporting role for the committee, but will not be members of the committee itself. These include Michael Arens, who will serve as Campus Liaison; Rachel Cavanagh and Jennifer Rossler, who will serve as Campus Support Staff and Juliana Hernandez-Commisso, the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Policy Implementation and Deputy Chief of Staff for SUNY.
Who else is working on the search?
Law also wrote that they hired the firm Spencer Stuart to aid in their search. Michele Haertel, who heads the firm’s Education and Social Impact practice will be a search partner for the committee, as well as Nordia Edwards, Ponneh Varho and Michael Steck, all staff members at Spencer Stuart.
The firm’s staff members working on the search will be visiting the campus in late September to meet with “key student, staff and faculty representatives to get information that will assist the committee in shaping a position profile,” Law wrote. “This profile will then be used to market Stony Brook to a highly qualified pool of candidates from across the nation.”
Firms like Spencer Stuart help institutions recruit for executive-level positions by identifying ideal individuals for a role through targeted research and relationships the firm previously has with executives and board directors across different industries. The firm then creates a list of top prospects. After evaluating the candidates, they present a final list of potential leaders to Stony Brook for interviews.
Comments and suggestions on the qualifications for the next president of Stony Brook can be sent to [email protected], while nominations for the position can be submitted to [email protected].
Stony Brook will also be launching a presidential search website, which Law wrote will be live in the near future.
“We look forward to working together with the campus community to select an outstanding president to lead Stony Brook University to its next level of success,” he wrote.
