Andrea Goldsmith will be Stony Brook University's 7th President. Photo courtesy of SBU
By Daniel Dunaief
Stony Brook University has named Andrea Goldsmith as the downstate flagship public university’s seventh president.
Goldsmith, who will start her tenure at Stony Brook on August 1st, has been the dean of engineering and applied sciences at Princeton University since 2020. She has been a dean, researcher in engineering, technology company founder and faculty member at Princeton and at Stanford University and Caltech.
Goldsmith will take over for Richard McCormick, who had been interim dean of the university after former president Maurie McInnis resigned last year to become president of Yale University.
”I would like to congratulate Goldsmith on her appointment as the next president of this prestigious university as I believe she will undoubtedly serve Stony Brook admirably,” Kathy Hochul (D), governor of New York, said in a statement.
Goldsmith’s research interests are in communications. control and signal processing and their application to wireless communications, interconnected systems and biomedical devices. She founded and served as Chief Technology Officer of Plume WiFi and of Quantenna Inc. and is on the board of Directors for Intel, Medtronic, Crown Castle and the Marconi Society. She has also served on the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology from 2021 to 2025.
At Princeton, Goldsmith helped establish the Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute. She also developed interdisciplinary research in robotics, blockchain, wireless technologies and artificial intelligence.
Andrew Singer, the Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Stony Brook, has known Goldsmith for over 25 years.
“She’s a fantastic choice,” Singer said in an interview. “She’s a community builder” and an innovator and has been a “highly visible and strong proponent for the intellectual communities she’s been a part of.”
The newly named SBU president was the founding chair of the IEEE Board of Directors Committee on Diversity and Inclusion and served as President of the IEEE Information Theory Society, as founding Chair of the Student Committee and as founding Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Information Theory.
Goldsmith will be joining Stony Brook at a time when the school has developed significant momentum in a number of areas. The university has risen in the rankings of US News and World Reports, climbing to 58th among national universities and 26th among public universities.
The university also secured a $500 million commitment from Marilyn and the late Jim Simons through the Simons Foundation, which was the largest unrestricted gift ever made to a U.S. education institution.
The university is also in the process of leading the developmentof a $700 million climate center on Governors Island.
During McCormick’s tenure at Stony Brook, which started last August, he outlined ways to improve and build on the university’s success, while also recognizing the need for investment.
McCormick highlighted how Stony Brook had an estimated $2 billion in deferred maintenance.
In an oral history interview with Mary Ann Hellrigel of the IEEE History Cente conducted on February 2, 2022, Goldsmith shared that she grew up in California, where she lived with her mother Adrienne Goldsmith after her parents got divorced. Her mother was an animator for cartoon shows, including “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.”
She is married to Arturo Salz and the couple has two children.
Goldsmith spent part of what would have been her senior year in high school as a singer in Greek night clubs before starting college.
Goldsmith has a Bachelor’s in Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and an MS and PhD in electricity engineering from UC Berkeley.
The interim president of Stony Brook University, whose tenure started in August and is set to end in June, wants more students, more buildings, more funding for science, more interdisciplinary collaborations and, to help make much of that possible, more money from the state.
An aerial view of Stony Brook University
In a recent celebrity spotlight podcast interview, McCormick shared a vision that addressed everything from identifying scientific priorities for the next decade, to adding sufficient wastewater treatment for proposed new buildings, to ensuring sufficient funding for student education and research.
McCormick, who has had more than four decades of experience in higher education, and said he is “enjoying this position more than any other I’ve had in my whole life,” is thinking well beyond June.
This winter, McCormick is asking New York State for $1.2 billion, split evenly over the course of the next four years, to add new buildings. He will also request additional funds to upgrade buildings with deferred maintenance.
“We’re seeking significant resources from the state of New York for deferred maintenance,” McCormick said. Stony Brook has an estimated $2 billion in deferred maintenance, including buildings that house the College of Business in Harriman Hall, the School of Social Welfare and the School of Dental Medicine.
“We also need new facilities, particularly interdisciplinary research facilities,” he added.
McCormick has shared a proposal, which SUNY Chancellor John King, Jr. supports, that seeks resources for these new interdisciplinary buildings on the West and East Campuses.
“It’s going to be my main focus of effort during the winter, to obtain support for that capital facilities plan,”said McCormick.
In addition to a request for buildings, the interim president will seek funds for an operating budget and staff that can support a larger student body.
This year’s freshman class of 4,040 students is the largest to date. That makes Stony Brook stand out amid the average decline of five percent in first year enrollment at universities and colleges across the country.
“We’re a hot school right now,” McCormick said, particularly after Stony Brook climbed the 2024 ranks of colleges in US News and World Report to 58th among national universities and 26th among public universities.
The operating budget for Stony Brook, which declined in the decade that ended in 2020, has been rising. “Another pitch I’ll be making in Albany during the legislative session will be to maintain that increase,” McCormick added. The higher budget will support limiting factors such as housing, wastewater, dining and faculty.
More faculty
Stony Brook has been adding faculty recently, and would like to ensure that any increase in student enrollment doesn’t affect class sizes. “The aim will be to keep the pace of faculty appointments in line with the growth of students,” McCormick said.
The interim president plans to continue to invest in research, as well. He is making more investments in shared facilities and equipment, is providing faculty with more support in applying for federal grants, and administering those grants, and is bolstering the high powered computing capacity such research demands. Those efforts are underway under the direction of Vice President for research Kevin Gardner, who also joined Stony Brook at the beginning of August.
New initiatives
At the same time, the interim president has added several new efforts.
He has appointed a task force that is charged with exploring opportunities for greater collaboration across Nichols Road. In addition, McCormick has convened a science futures committee that will come up with the developments the university should contribute to over the next decade.
He does not want to dictate this focus from the president’s office and is relying on this panel to “paint a bold picture of where science is going and what are the cutting edge fields Stony Brook should be investing in,” McCormick said. The group will share its vision in a public document.
McCormick is also bringing an effort he created when he was president at Rutgers University from 2002 to 2012. Called a Future Scholars Program, Stony Brook will identify about 100 students in five Southampton School Districts, who will be entering eighth grade next fall.
“We are going to put our arms around them, promise to support them with peer tutoring and mentoring, and with academic visits during the summer or the year,” he said.
In addition to ensuring that these students take college prep courses, Stony Brook will promise these students that “if you get a C in your math course, you’re going to get a call from us and you’re not going to get another C in math.” For students in this program who gain admission to Stony Brook on their merits, the university promises free tuition.
The Southampton schools are working on the process to identify these students. In the following year, the future scholars will come from five schools in the Stony Brook area. The primary criteria to find these students is promise and not grades.
A college town
McCormick would also like to develop a college town with businesses like pizza restaurants and bars.
This could be on the campus side of the railroad station and would be conceived of and created in collaboration with the private sector. The idea, he suggested, is to create a commercial district that’s within easy walking distance and which is particularly receptive to college students. McCormick would want those places to be “student friendly in every sense of the word, including their hours of operation,” he added. This, like some of his other ideas, is a longer term project that wouldn’t be completed within a year.
Concerns
McCormick shared several concerns in connection with Stony Brook and higher education.
He mentioned his worry about any future cuts in financial aid either for students in need or for scientific research. “It would be very, very hurtful not just to Stony Brook but to every university of our kind if there were significant reductions in student support or support for ongoing research, so we’re keeping an eye on that,” he said. When he speaks to members of Congress, he plans to discuss the importance of basic research, which can lead to advancements in health care and economic growth.
The interim president also believes in creating opportunities for talented students who come from a wide range of experiences and backgrounds. He recognizes that diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have become a political hot button. Still, he is not going to give up on opportunities for men and women to get college educations.
He also recognizes that some students are undocumented immigrants. “We want to do everything we can to protect our students,” he said. While he believes none of these threats are imminent, he plans to remain vigilant.
As a history professor who, at one point, taught a class jointly with his father at Rutgers, McCormick hopes and prays the country can become reunited amid heated rancor. He sees the lead up to the Civil War as the closest historical parallel to the current climate.However, McCormick does not anticipate that history will repeat itself.
Despite the tension, he remains optimistic about the future of the United States based on his faith in the country.
Next president
When Stony Brook tapped McCormick as its interim president, he indicated that he would not be a candidate for the permanent role. Indeed, the announcement of his role indicated he would have this position only through June 2025.
“I agreed to that,” McCormick said. “I signed that letter,” indicating that he wouldn’t be a candidate.
Still, he would be willing to stay on as president, if that opportunity arose.
Based on his experience at Stony Brook, where he has found the culture warm, receptive and supportive, he would like to see the next president, no matter who it is, “be a nice person.”
Members of the Stony Brook football team (#22 Cal Redman, #14 Rodney Faulk, and #5 Jasiah Williams)dropped by to check out the new statue with Wolfie and Interim President Richard McCormick. Photo courtesy of SBU
Stony Brook University recently unveiled a new statue of everyone’s favorite mascot, Wolfie, on the Academic Mall.
The 7-foot-tall bronze sculpture created by artist Virgil Oertle stands behind a bench where fellow Seawolves can come over and relax, or take a photo. Funds were generously donated by alumnus Ken Marcus, Class of 1971.
Interim President Richard McCormick said the university was thrilled to present the statue to the community, and hoped it will be an enduring symbol of the pride of Stony Brook.
“Wolfie spans many generations of Seawolves, connecting us all through his spirit and tenacity,” McCormick said. “He is authentic, confident, inspiring and a supportive friend, reflecting the best of who we are as a community, and as individuals.”
Richard McCormick. Photo courtesy Stony Brook University
By Daniel Dunaief
The State University of New York Board of Trustees has named former Rutgers President Richard McCormick, 76, interim president of Stony Brook University as the school continues its search for a seventh president.
McCormick, who will take over the reigns at the downstate flagship SUNY school on August 1st, replaces Maurie McInnis, who left Stony Brook after four years to become the president of Yale University on July 1.
Dr. Bill Wertheim, Executive Vice President for Stony Brook Medicine, has been serving as Officer-in-Charge and Stony Brook University Hospital’s Governing Body since July 1.
McCormick, who was president of Rutgers from 2002 to 2012 and has taught and studied United States political history in the 19th and 20th centuries, has over four decades of experience in higher education, including leading several highly ranked public universities.
McCormick will oversee Stony Brook University and Stony Brook Medicine and will serve as part of the management team of Brookhaven National Laboratory.
“Each step we take in this leadership transition is important, and we welcome Dr. McCormick,” John King, Jr, SUNY Chancellor said in a statement. “His vast higher education experience will continue to move this esteemed university forward as the campus conducts a national search for its new president.”
McCormick welcomed the chance to lead Stony Brook during this transition period.
Stony Brook “has achieved national stature yet remains fully engaged with its Long Island community, for which it is an economic engine,” McCormick said in a statement. “My thanks to the SUNY Board of Trustees, Chancellor King and the Stony Brook Council for this opportunity.”
As an interim president, McCormick will not be a candidate to become the next permanent president.
In addition to his tenure at Rutgers, which started in 1976 when he joined the history department, McCormick also was vice chancellor and provost at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1992 to 1995 and was president of the University of Washington from 1995 to 2002.
The incoming interim Stony Brook president earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College in American Studies and his PhD in history from Yale in 1976, 20 years before McInnis also earned her PhD in the History of Art from the New Haven-based Ivy league school she now leads.
McCormick started his academic career at Rutgers, where he was a member of the history faculty from 1976 to 1992. He was also Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
McCormick is the son of Richard Patrick McCormick, a former Rutgers professor and Katheryne Levis, a former Rutgers administrator.
McCormick and his father co-taught an American history course.
An author of several books, McCormick is writing a book on the history of American political corruption from the 17th century to the present.
Rutgers achievements
McCormick, who earned his high school diploma from Piscataway Township High School in Piscataway, New Jersey, orchestrated constructive changes in his hometown university during his presidency.
McCormick helped raise $650 million while he was president.
Four years after becoming president, the university reorganized the undergraduate colleges on the New Brunswick campus into a School of Arts and Sciences and School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.
The reorganization included a comprehensive new curriculum at the School of Arts and Sciences, first year seminars, signature courses, expansion opportunities for undergraduate research and honors programs and support for top undergraduates competing for highly competitive scholarships and awards.
In the final years of his tenure, he merged Rutgers with the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and divisions of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The New Jersey Legislature passed a bill to integrate almost all units of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey into Rutgers.
“Dr. McCormick’s notable accomplishments as president of Rutgers from 2002 until 2012 included reinvigorating undergraduate education, elevating its standing in the top tier of public research universities, realizing a longstanding goal of returning medical education to the university’s portfolio, and improving and strengthening connections with important partners, including alumni and local communities,” Wertheim said in a statement. “He is the ideal leader to help Stony Brook sustain its momentum as New York’s flagship university.”
The former Rutgers president led the school when it installed 40,000 high-efficiency solar panels over two large surface parking lots on the Livingston campus, producing over eight megawatts of power, which, at the time, was the largest renewable energy system built on a college campus in the country. Rutgers has continued to add solar panels.
Stony Brook momentum
McCormick’s experience with solar energy dovetails with some of Stony Brook’s recent environmental initiatives and successes.
With the support of the Simons Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies, Stony Brook University won the competitive process as the lead institution to create a climate solutions center on Governors Island. The New York Climate Exchange will develop and deploy dynamic solutions to the global climate crisis, will provide educational and research opportunities and will serve as a place for New Yorkers to benefit from the green economy.
The Climate Solutions Center will include 400,000 square feet of green-designed building space, including research labs, classroom space, exhibits, greenhouses, mitigation technologies and housing facilities.
McCormick takes over as interim president at a time when Stony Brook has achieved some important financial and academic victories.
A year ago, the Simons Foundation made a $500 million endowment gift to Stony Brook. The gift, which will be spread out over seven years, was the largest unrestricted donation to an institution of higher education in United States history.
The Foundation gift, which the state will match on a 1:2 program, and other philanthropic contributions are expected to increase the endowment by as much as $1 billion.
Stony Brook recently climbed 19 spots in the rankings of colleges from US News and World Report, ranking 58th in the rankings. That’s the highest ever rank for a State University of New York institution. The school also placed 12th among national universities for social mobility rank.
“Stony Brook is a world-class institution, moving on an upward trajectory, educating the next generation of leaders and thinkers and bettering our society through research and economic development,” Stony Brook Council Kevin Law said in a statement. “I am pleased to welcome Dr. McCormick, whose accomplishments and vision in higher-education leadership are nothing short of extraordinary, as our interim president, and to begin the search for our next permanent president.”
Challenges ahead
McCormick will likely face the same some of the same challenges other university presidents, interim or not, have dealt with as protestors have expressed their frustrations over the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
At numerous universities, protests disrupted exams, classes and graduation ceremonies.
College presidents have tried to balance between the rights of students to assemble and express themselves and the university’s need to protect various groups of students from intimidation, bullying, or threats.
Local politicians welcomed McCormick. “I look forward to getting to know Dr. McCormick and collaborating with him to ensure that Stony Brook remains a premier institution of higher learning, providing a safe environment for students of all religions,” said Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY1).
