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May 06, 2009 | 04:09 PM
Stony Brook University introduced its fifth president, Dr. Samuel Stanley Jr., at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. Although the M.D. will not assume the post until July 1, the day after President Shirley Strum Kenny retires, the transition is under way.
The press conference immediately followed a meeting of the State University of New York Board of Trustees, held at SBU at 1 pm, to formally approve the appointment of Dr. Stanley.
Current vice chancellor for research at Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. Stanley was joined by his family to accept the appointment. His wife, Dr. Ellen Li, a renowned gastroenterologist, is expected to join the SBU Medical Center staff. SUNY Trustee Michael Russell said he is "confident" Dr. Li will join the doctors of SBUMC.
The Stanley's four children, Jim, Susan, Katie and Samuel III, sat to the side of the podium with their mother beaming as Dr. Stanley was lauded by speaker after speaker.
SUNY's chancellor-designate, Nancy Zimpher — effectively the state education system's CEO — was also on hand to take part in the announcement, as was a smiling President Kenny, entering the last two months of her 15-year stint as SBU's leader. In effect Zimpher was performing the first act of her chancellorship even before officially assuming the office next month by presenting Dr. Stanley to the SUNY Board.
SUNY Board Chairman Carl Hayden called the appointment of Dr. Stanley "a reason to celebrate." Soon-to-be Chancellor Zimpher welcomed the new president-designate and thanked the search committee. "You made me a partner in this," she said.
Hedge fund magnate and former SBU mathematics department chair James Simons reminisced over past SBU searches for department heads and quipped that the search committee was "fortunate to find someone who wanted it — and we wanted him." In a jocular mood, Simons commended the 18 search committee members "who knew they would all agree with me."
That committee's chairman, Rich Nasti (SBU '78), head of the SBU Council, and vice chair Rich Gelfond ('76), head of the Stony Brook Foundation, both took the opportunity to laud retiring President Kenny. Gelfond said SBU's fourth president achieved "amazing accomplishments" and Nasti added, "President Kenny put us in a position to recruit superb candidates" to replace her.
Referring to "this remarkable institution," Kenny told her successor, "You're gonna love it."
Dr. Stanley said he was "very proud to accept" the presidency of SBU and, turning to Zimpher, added, "which I consider the flagship university" in the SUNY system. All on the dais laughed, including the chancellor-elect, who will soon be forced to deal with the competition between SUNY campuses for shrinking state resources. Dr. Stanley said cooperation between SBU, Brookhaven National and Cold Spring Harbor laboratories can "play a key role in a scientific renaissance" in the United States, and credited President Barack Obama for the education and research initiatives he has promoted already in his brief tenure in the White House.
Dr. Stanley pledged to work with the SBU faculty. "Your voice will be heard," he said, although adding he might not always agree.
"I can't wait to start," the president-elect concluded.
Dr. Stanley will be paid a total of $650,000 annually in direct or deferred compensation, comprised of a $400,000 state salary, $100,000 from The Research Foundation of SUNY and another $150,000 to be provided by the Stony Brook Foundation.
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