Executive Director of Alumni Relations, Matthew Colson, will be leaving his position at Stony Brook University to become the Vice President for Development and Alumni Engagement at Farmingdale State College, according to an email sent on June 1.

“It’s with a tremendous amount of mixed emotions that I share with you today, that later in July, I’ll depart from Stony Brook,” Colson wrote. “When I came to Stony Brook it was always with great aspiration to someday be a Vice President, and to my great gratitude for the wonderful work we’ve done together for Stony Brook, that call has come a bit sooner than expected.” 

Colson has held his position in alumni relations for eight years. Raised in Farmingdale, he wrote that the opportunity to have a homecoming and work at Farmingdale State College was one he couldn’t pass up.

“We’ve built something special together for Stony Brook with our alumni and students,” Colson wrote in an email to The Statesman. “I feel I’ve done my part for someone to come in and hand the torch off to, who will continue what we’ve started together and continue the forward progress that we’ve worked so hard to enjoy.”

Interim Vice President of Advancement, Deborah Lowen-Klein, praised Colson’s leadership skills in an email to The Statesman.

“During the last eight years, Matthew Colson was responsible for leading a highly talented staff with the mission of providing superior programs and services for Stony Brook’s 200,000 alumni worldwide” Lowen-Klein wrote. “We are grateful to him for his service for our University and wish him luck in his new position at Farmingdale State, another SUNY institution.”

Lowen-Klein said that an interim leadership plan for Colson’s position is being developed.