STONY BROOK, N.Y., September 20, 2007- Stony Brook President Shirley Strum Kenny said that "Stony Brook is red hot" yesterday at her annual Convocation Address before a crowd of 800 faculty, students, and staff -- many wearing Stony Brook Red shirts -- in a 30-minute address at the Staller Center. The theme of the University's 50th Anniversary, which it is celebrating this academic year, resonated through the presentation, which was accompanied by visual graphics charting Stony Brook's rise to international prominence as a major research institution.
Among those in the audience were the other two surviving Stony Brook Presidents -- John S. Toll, who served the fledgling campus from 1965-74, and John H. Marburger III, who served from 1980-94. Both were invited by President Kenny to help mark the Golden Anniversary.
"Welcome to a future on which Stony Brook will continue to thrive and grow," Kenny said, "as it has done so extraordinarily in its remarkable first 50 years."
During her address, Kenny described Stony Brook's progress, development, and standing as an elite academic institution while harkening back to the university's earliest days, when it was established in 1957 as a teacher's college on the Coe Estate in Oyster Bay. "The Coe Estate's extensive [horse] stables were converted from equine to student residential use," Kenny said, to laughter from the audience.
Ticking off a catalogue of the early college's history, from softball games between the entering class of 148 students and the 14 faculty, to the bumpy terrain of construction sites once the university moved to Stony Brook in 1962, Kenny continued: "Stony Brook soon became known for the astonishing rapidity of the growth of its research excellence as for the ankle-deep mud."
The growth and excellence of Stony Brook were themes echoed by Toll and Marburger. Toll, who recruited Nobel Prize-winning physicist C.N. Yang in 1966, said: "We were getting better people than anyone in the state ... the university has improved again and again."
"We often said in those days that Stony Brook was unique," Marburger said. "Now we say it with pride."
Toll, a Princeton-trained physicist and former professor and chairman of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Maryland, was the second President of Stony Brook. During his tenure, he established schools of public affairs, medicine, dentistry, nursing, allied health professions, basic health sciences, and social work.
Marburger's presidency coincided with the opening and growth of Stony Brook University Hospital and the development of the biological sciences as a major strength of the University. During the 1980's federally sponsored scientific research at Stony Brook grew to exceed that of any other public university in the northeastern United States. Since 2001, Marburger has served President George W. Bush as science advisor and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Kenny's address was laced with references to early Stony Brook students and faculty, some of whom were in attendance. She also welcomed new faculty members and incoming Provost Eric Kaler; SUNY Trustee Mike Russell, Stony Brook Council members John Corrado, John Gallagher, and John Cochrane; State Senators John Flanagan and Ken LaValle; and Assemblymen Steve Englebright, Fred Thiele, and Mike Fitzpatrick
Among recent University's achievements cited by Kenny were:
Freshman and transfer applications have skyrocketed from 13,500 10 years ago to 29,000 this year
The selectivity of admissions has improved from 57 per cent to 43 per cent
SAT scores have climbed 110 points in 10 years
Stony Brook has been ranked as one of the 100 best national universities in U.S. News & World Report and as one of the top 2 per cent of the universities world-wide by the London Times Higher Education Supplement.
The opening of a new campus, Stony Brook Southampton, which is based on interdisciplinary programs related to the environment
"We must design the new products, develop ecological sustainability, find the cures, and create the arts that make Long Island a desirable and productive home," Kenny said. "...We must understand that interdisciplinarity in research and in education is key to the future, that inter-university research will be increasingly necessary to discover the answers to the big questions, that we must educate our students to live and prosper in a world of complexity and ambiguity."
"This year...will be the perfect time to look at the long-range future of universities in general and particularly of Stony Brook University in as clear-headed and far-reaching and inventive ways as possible."
About Stony Brook University
In only 50 years, Stony Brook has established itself as one of America's most dynamic public universities, an essential part of the region's economy, and a center of cultural excellence. Nobel laureates, Guggenheim fellows, and MacArthur grant winners teach on the campus, making it a magnet for outstanding students. Stony Brook is ranked in the top 2 percent of all universities worldwide by the 2006 London Times Higher Education Supplement. U.S. News & World Report ranks Stony Brook among the top 100 best national universities and among the 50 best public universities. A member of the elite Association of American Universities, Stony Brook is among the 62 best research institutions in North America. Stony Brook faculty and researchers are leaders in significant national and worldwide projects, including the establishment of a research facility in Turkana Basin in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia, the management of the national parks of Madagascar, and the uncovering the causes of lobster mortality in Long Island Sound.
