Stony Brook Leadership Transition Update
July 1, 2024
Dear Stony Brook Campus Community,
To ensure continuity of our campus-wide operations and our upward trajectory as New York’s modern-day flagship, the SUNY Board of Trustees is expected to name an interim president for Stony Brook University in early August. In the meantime, Chancellor John B. King, Jr. has appointed William Wertheim, MD, MBA, Executive Vice President for Stony Brook Medicine, to additionally serve as Stony Brook’s Officer-in-Charge and Stony Brook University Hospital’s Governing Body, effective July 1. Dr. Wertheim is deeply respected for his leadership and his approach for fostering a culture of teamwork and inclusivity. He is ideally suited to lead us during this brief transition while maintaining his clear vision for the future of Stony Brook Medicine.
The Chancellor’s message is included below.
The national search for the university’s next president will be chaired by Stony Brook Council Chairman Kevin Law, in accordance with SUNY’s presidential search process guidelines. A call for search committee nominations will be shared with the campus.
Sincerely,
Judith B. Greiman
Chief Deputy to the President
Senior Vice President for Government and Community Relations
Dear Stony Brook Campus Community,
When Governor Hochul designated Stony Brook one of New York’s first flagship universities, it was an acknowledgement of years of hard work and determination from the deep bench of talent on campus, and the strong leadership of Dr. Maurie McInnis. As Maurie begins a new chapter in her career, so too does the Stony Brook campus, with all the eagerness a very promising future deserves.
I am grateful for Maurie’s service to Stony Brook and New York State, and wish her all the best. Maurie’s tenure marked just the latest step in Stony Brook’s path to excellence, and included great milestones — record levels of enrollment for Pell-eligible students, recognition as the anchor institution for the New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island, extraordinary research firsts from AI to quantum and far beyond, and so much more.
Stony Brook is a world-class institution, and I look forward to charting its future together as we begin the transition to a new permanent president.
I am pleased that Stony Brook Medicine Executive Vice President Dr. William Wertheim, who has served the university in various roles for nearly three decades, will oversee Stony Brook University’s operations as Officer-in-Charge and Stony Brook University Hospital's Governing Body effective today. In terms of next steps, I anticipate that the SUNY Board of Trustees will approve an interim president to begin serving by the beginning of August. During this time, a national search for Stony Brook’s next president will start in July.
I am excited about this opportunity and what it will mean for Stony Brook University and SUNY. I hope you have a wonderful summer as we ready ourselves for the new academic year ahead.
Sincerely,
Chancellor John B. King, Jr., J.D., Ed.D.