Dr. Samuel Stanley
On July 1, 2009, Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., became the fifth president of Stony Brook University, taking the helm of one of the nation’s most prestigious research institutions. One of just 63 members of the invitation-only Association of American Universities, Stony Brook is recognized for its innovative programs, groundbreaking discoveries, and integration of research with undergraduate education. A highly distinguished biomedical researcher, Dr. Stanley was one of the nation’s highest recipients of support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his research focusing on enhanced defense against emerging infectious diseases. He is an expert in the biological mechanisms that cells employ when responding to infectious agents such as parasites, bacteria, and viruses, a process commonly called the inflammatory response.Prior to coming to Stony Brook, Dr. Stanley served as vice chancellor for research at Washington University in Saint Louis, where he was responsible for the university’s research, overseeing an enterprise that generated more than $500 million annually. As the institutional official responsible for all compliance programs, he oversaw the university community’s adherence to guidelines governing the responsible and ethical conduct of research.A Seattle native, Dr. Stanley has a Bachelor of Arts degree in biological sciences (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Chicago. After earning his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1980, he completed his resident-physician training at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1983 he began a fellowship in infectious diseases at Washington University School of Medicine, became a professor of medicine in 1999, and in 2004 was appointed a professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology in recognition of the collaborative nature of his research.Dr. Stanley serves on the SUNY Strategic Planning Steering Committee, which plays a pivotal role in shaping the development of SUNY’s new Strategic Plan that will guide SUNY for the next five years and the University for the next ten. As chair of Brookhaven Science Associates, which co-manages Brookhaven National Laboratory with Battelle Memorial Institute, Dr. Stanley joins the leaders of a select group of prestigious academic institutions including Cornell, Princeton, Stanford, the University of California-Berkeley, and the University of Chicago in co-managing and collaborating with a national laboratory. He also serves on the boards of the SUNY Research Foundation, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Goodwill Industries of Greater NY and NJ, the Long Island Association, and the Long Island Regional Advisory Council on Higher Education (LIRACHE). Dr. Stanley has received an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Science from Konkuk University in Korea.Generating an estimated $4.7 billion annually in regional economic impact, Stony Brook is playing a vital role in Long Island’s transformation into a major technological corridor, bringing new innovations in wireless technology, clean energy, diagnostic and sensor systems, and medical biotechnology to the area. Stony Brook faculty members are credited with more than 1,500 inventions and more than 400 U.S. patents, and our research enterprise generates $160 million in revenue annually. With the newly created New York Energy Policy Institute—a consortium of research centers and experts to advise the State on energy policy—housed at the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC) at Stony Brook, the University will assume a leading role in our region’s well-being for years to come.