Andrea Goldsmith has been appointed as the seventh president of Stony Brook University, receiving unanimous approval from the State University of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees. The decision was made during an executive session held on February 19 at the SUNY Global Center in New York.
Goldsmith, who is currently serving as the Dean of Engineering and Applied Science and the Arthur LeGrand Doty Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Princeton University, expressed her enthusiasm for her new role. "For Stony Brook, the possibilities as the number one public university in the great state of New York are truly endless," she stated. She looks forward to advancing Stony Brook’s excellence in research, education, innovation, and service to various communities.
Kevin Law, chairman of the Stony Brook Council and leader of the search committee, praised Goldsmith's combination of academic leadership and business acumen. He highlighted her experience at both Stanford University and Princeton University, as well as her entrepreneurial background with startups and corporate board positions. "We believe she can maximize our research efforts to secure funding from multiple sources given her relationships and contacts," Law said.
Goldsmith's academic journey began at the University of California at Berkeley where she earned bachelor's, master's, and PhD degrees in electrical engineering. Her father was a professor there while her mother worked as an animator for cartoons such as The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.
In addition to her academic roles, Goldsmith has chaired significant committees including being the founding chair of the IEEE Board of Directors Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. She also served as president of the IEEE Information Theory Society.
As she steps into her new role at Stony Brook University, Goldsmith emphasized the importance of higher education for societal benefit. "As Stony Brook’s next president, I have a powerful role to play in that articulation," she said. She intends to bring a leadership approach focused on teamwork, innovation, and setting high aspirations.
Her research interests lie in information theory, communication theory, signal processing applied to wireless communications among other fields. Goldsmith is a member of the National Academy of Engineering with over $70 million in government research grants under her belt.
Goldsmith has founded companies like Plume WiFi (formerly Accelera Inc.) and Quantenna Inc., serving on several corporate boards including Intel and Medtronic. With 38 issued patents to her name alongside numerous publications, she identifies strongly with entrepreneurship: “To me being an entrepreneur means a desire to affect positive change.”
Looking ahead toward leading Stony Brook University through its next chapter; Goldsmith is eager: “Taking risks and embracing change will be essential as we shape this extraordinary institution.”