Andrea Goldsmith, PhD, began her role as the seventh president of Stony Brook University on August 4, 2025. Her appointment was approved by the State University of New York Board of Trustees earlier this year.
Dr. Goldsmith brings extensive experience from previous leadership roles at Princeton and Stanford Universities and the California Institute of Technology. She is recognized for her research in engineering and for founding technology companies.
“It is an honor to join Stony Brook University – a champion of excellent, affordable education that will launch students into very successful careers and lives as citizens of the world. From my very first interview it was clear that there is so much opportunity for advancing Stony Brook’s excellence across all dimensions of education, research, innovation and clinical care,” said President Goldsmith. “I look forward to continuing the momentum to make Stony Brook one of the very best public universities in the nation by supporting our students in their education, growing research, empowering our faculty, pursuing innovation and scholarship and building a brighter future for New York.”
As president, Dr. Goldsmith oversees both Stony Brook University and its health system, which includes five health sciences schools, three hospitals, a skilled nursing facility, and over 200 community healthcare locations. She also has responsibilities related to economic development in New York State and helps manage the partnership with Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Before starting her tenure officially, Dr. Goldsmith met with various members of the university community to set priorities for Stony Brook’s future.
SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. stated: “I could not be more excited about Dr. Andrea Goldsmith’s leadership and the future of Stony Brook University. Dr. Goldsmith’s experience as an academic, dean, and researcher – as well as an innovator and entrepreneur – will serve our students, faculty, staff, and the campus community well as she builds on Stony Brook’s reputation as a world-class higher education institution.”
Kevin Law, Chairman of the Stony Brook Council and Presidential Search Committee added: “Stony Brook University is a world-class flagship institution on a remarkable upward trajectory, educating the next generation of leaders and driving societal progress through groundbreaking research, economic development, and innovation. During the presidential search process, Dr. Goldsmith quickly distinguished herself with a compelling vision, deep expertise, and unwavering commitment to advancing the university’s mission. She is the ideal leader to guide Stony Brook as it ascends to an even more prominent role in shaping the future of higher education.”
Dr. Goldsmith has spent over thirty years in university leadership roles focused on teaching and research impact. At Princeton University she served five years as dean of engineering; prior to that she spent 21 years on Stanford's engineering faculty where she held several governance positions including chairing its Faculty Senate.
Her work in wireless communications led to technological advancements applied at start-ups such as Plume Wi-Fi and Quantenna Communications where she was chief technology officer; she also serves on boards at Intel (INTC), Medtronic (MDT), and Crown Castle Inc (CCI).
Goldsmith credits her public-school background—including K-12 schooling through graduate studies—for laying her professional foundation.
At Princeton Engineering she expanded faculty ranks while increasing sponsored research funding by 25 percent; founded new interdisciplinary initiatives like Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute; advanced projects involving robotics AI blockchain wireless technologies; fostered corporate partnerships promoting entrepreneurship.
At Stanford she contributed extensively through committee service covering areas like education policy finance research direction—and held multiple elected terms within faculty governance structures.
In 2021 President Biden appointed her to his Council of Advisors on Science & Technology addressing science innovation sustainability policy matters nationwide.
Within IEEE—the major international professional organization for electrical engineers—she led efforts improving diversity inclusion standards globally; launched key publications including IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Information Theory; served presidential terms leading technical societies focused on information theory & communications.
Goldsmith holds 38 patents related primarily to wireless technology innovations; honors include induction into both Wireless History Foundation Hall Of Fame & National Inventors Hall Of Fame plus receipt of awards such as IEEE Dresselhaus Medal recognizing contributions/leadership in wireless communications theory/practice & The Marconi Prize (first woman recipient).
She is affiliated with national/international academies including National Academy Of Engineering Royal Academy Of Engineering Royal Swedish Academy Of Engineering Sciences American Academy Of Arts And Sciences.
As an educator she authored foundational textbooks used internationally for wireless communication instruction—her book "Wireless Communications" published by Cambridge University Press has been translated into three languages—and co-authored works covering MIMO systems cognitive radio machine learning applications in wireless networks.
Over her career she's mentored many undergraduate/graduate researchers supervised dozens of PhD/postdoctoral trainees received recognition such as IEEE James H Mulligan Jr Education Medal honoring outstanding educational mentorship achievements/textbook authorship (2024).
President Goldsmith aims to accelerate excellence across all aspects—education clinical care research innovation—to meet both institutional goals & broader community needs during her presidency.