SUNY Chancellor John B. King, Jr. announced Andrea Goldsmith, the current Dean for the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton University, to serve as the next Stony Brook University president on Wednesday, Feb. 19. The Statesman sat down with Goldsmith in an exclusive interview to discuss what led her to join the University community as well as her plans for the institution. Goldsmith is set to start her new position on Aug. 1.
The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
The Statesman: Could you tell me a little bit about yourself?
Goldsmith: One of the most relevant things about me is that I’m a product of public education. I left high school in 11th grade and went to community college. Following that, I went to the University of California, Berkeley for my undergraduate and graduate degrees.
When I finished my Ph.D., I went to teach at the California Institute of Technology and then moved to Stanford four years later. I spent 21 years at Stanford University where I was very involved with addressing our student community.
I really am excited to get to know the student community at Stony Brook and to find out what are their challenges, what are their aspirations and to help address and overcome those challenges.
I’ll just say that even though I had opportunities to go elsewhere, the reason why I’ve spent my whole career in academia is the students. You are the future leaders of the country. For me to be part of an organization that’s educating that generation and meeting all of you and being inspired by all of you is what is the best part of my job.
The Statesman: What led you to come to Stony Brook University?
Goldsmith: What drew me to Stony Brook was its aspirations.
I view it as a university that is an outstanding university now but it aspires to be much more. And, I really believe that Stony Brook has the opportunity to be one of the best universities in the country.
It’s the No. 1 public university in the great state of New York, so it should be in the upper echelon of all universities. How we can achieve that is by enhancing our education, research and our broader impact. And that’s what excited me the most about Stony Brook.
As an entrepreneur, I never wanted to go and be part of a big company that was already at the top. I wanted to be a leader that would grow a new organization to be something much bigger, so that’s the opportunity of Stony Brook. I don’t think there’s a better opportunity for me to come in and partner with our faculty, staff and our amazing students and take Stony Brook to new heights. When we do that, your degree is going to be worth a lot more when you have attended one of the best universities in the country.
The Statesman: What was the presidential search process like for you?
Goldsmith: The search process was magical. I don’t have any better word to describe it because from the day I was first made aware of the presidency and started looking at the opportunity, I got really excited. I said, “This is the right opportunity for me, now I need to convince them that I’m the right leader for them.”
Every stage of the interview process, from my first interview to my last interview and everything in between, made me more and more convinced that it was the right opportunity for me and that the presidential search committee viewed me as the right leader for Stony Brook. That their aspirations for Stony Brook matched my aspirations. And that together, we could partner to achieve those aspirations.
It was a bit nerve-wracking because it was such a great opportunity. I was really hoping that they viewed me as the right person. So, when it came all together, it was magical, and that’s why I use that word.
The Statesman: Your family was with you at the SUNY Board of Trustees meeting, how did you and your family feel when first heard of the decision?
Goldsmith: Leading up to the announcement, my family kept telling me, “Don’t get your hopes up because you’re going to be crushed if it doesn’t happen.” They know me and they knew I was just really excited and hopeful that this opportunity would come to fruition. For them to be there at the final moment was very meaningful. We all had dinner in New York last night to just be together as a family right up before this momentous occasion. They are as excited for me as I am excited to start because they know me and they know that this is the right opportunity for me.
The Statesman: You also mentioned it briefly in the meeting, can you elaborate on what your vision is for the University?
Goldsmith: What I’ve learned as a leader, especially as an academic leader, is that you have to craft a joint vision that everybody participates in. I don’t have a vision for Stony Brook other than that it has the opportunity to be one of the best universities in the country, in education, in research and in impact.
What I’m looking forward to is meeting all of you: the students, the faculty, the staff, the alumni and understanding your aspirations and what you aspire Stony Brook to become. By understanding what it is, that will be the vision that we craft together. When we craft a vision together, we’ll be able to achieve it because it’s what we all want.
To be a leader, especially in a university setting, is to be an entrepreneurial leader; someone who can help bring together and create a sense of teamwork and high aspirations. With that, it’s a lot easier to achieve our goals. There will be challenges for sure but if we’re all behind this compelling vision, I have no doubt that we’ll be able to overcome whatever barrier is in the way and achieve it.
Different groups across campus have different visions but we can achieve all of those aspirations because they’re intertwined at the end of the day.
The Statesman: Can you further elaborate why entrepreneurship is important to your vision?
Goldsmith: One of the reasons why I went out and started companies is that I saw an opportunity that nobody else was seizing that was important to seize — and that’s what I see with Stony Brook. I should clarify, it’s not that other people haven’t seen Stony Brook’s opportunity. It’s very clear what the opportunity for Stony Brook is, but as an entrepreneur, what I like to do is to go to a place that has so much upward momentum and figure out how to seize that momentum. I don’t prefer going to a place that’s already established and at the top of its game.
In my startups, there were so many challenges, weeks where we were going to be out of money and not be entirely sure how we were going to make payroll, but that was not daunting at all because I knew we had a vision and a team that believed in that vision. And, most importantly, that nothing could stop us from achieving it.
Having that experience as an entrepreneur is going to help at Stony Brook because there is tremendous opportunity but also tremendous challenges that I’m slowly learning. I have no doubt that by bringing in that entrepreneurial mindset, that we will accomplish anything we set our minds to and we can overcome any barriers that are in our way.
The other thing is that I want to inspire our students to think about is entrepreneurship and not just starting companies but being entrepreneurs in their own organizations; finding a need and crafting a way to fill that need is what entrepreneurship is about. We’re going to want to tap the entrepreneurial spirit of our students and our faculty to make Stony Brook and our country a better place.
The Statesman: Considering the current political climate such as the Israel-Hamas conflict and the potential effects of President Donald Trump’s executive orders where some university presidents have stepped down because of a lacking response, how will you be addressing those concerns?
Goldsmith: As someone who has spent my entire career in universities, I believe in the mission of universities is to educate the next generation to advance the frontiers of knowledge.
There’s never been a more important time for universities to play that role and that’s something we all believe in as Americans. We need to articulate those values strongly and we need to understand the current environment we’re in and create a narrative to convince everyone why universities are so important.
One of the most important roles I have as Stony Brook’s president is to articulate the importance of our universities for education, workforce development, innovation and economic vitality in the country.
The Statesman: What kind of legacy would you like to leave at the University?
Goldsmith: I would like Stony Brook, when I step down as president, to be one of the best universities in the country, to have excellence in education in all dimensions, to have advanced the frontiers of knowledge in the most important areas for the country and for the world. I would like it to be an environment where everyone can thrive and I would like to drive economic development in Long Island, N.Y., New York City and New York State. Essentially, I want the University to achieve the potential it has in all dimensions.
If that’s what I’m able to do as president, I will step down, believing that this was the most incredible leadership opportunity possible for me and I will be very, very proud of all we’ve accomplished to make Stony Brook achieve its full potential.
The Statesman: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Goldsmith: I’m looking forward to meeting all of you, especially the students. As I said before, you are the best of our jobs as academics and leaders.
I look forward to meeting all of you, hearing all of your stories and finding ways I can enhance your educational experience broadly and to being a proud member of the Stony Brook community. And, most importantly, being a Seawolf. I’m really looking forward to getting to work and making this University one of the greatest universities with significant positive impact.
