Stony Brook University

10/31/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/31/2024 08:45

SBU Hosts Celebration of Promoted and Tenured Faculty

Tenured and clinical faculty who have recently been promoted were honored by Stony Brook University at a special celebration. Photos by Isabel Epstein.

Stony Brook University recently held a Promotion and Tenure Celebration that honored all tenured and clinical faculty promoted from July 1, 2023 to August 31, 2024.

Held September 30 at the Charles B. Wang Center, this newly created event invited those faculty, as well as deans and department chairs, to provideuniversity-wide recognition to those who have helped Stony Brook become an internationally recognized research institution, New York's flagship university, a top hospital and healthcare enterprise, and an international hub for scholarship and innovation.

Speakers included Interim President Richard McCormick, Executive Vice President and Provost Carl Lejuez, and Executive Vice President of Stony Brook Medicine William Wertheim, MD.

"The faculty who reach this level of success are those who excel across their research, teaching, and service expectations," McCormick said. "Who consistently use their expertise and resources to break barriers and drive change. They are the heart of a great university."

Over the past several years, Stony Brook has devoted significant resources to the promotion and tenure process, ensuring that its standards align with those across peers in the Association of American Universities (AAU). Last year, the University Senate charged a committee to review promotion and tenure standards. Chaired by Axel Drees and Anissa Abi-Dargham, the committee produced a set of recommendations that has guided the Office of the Provost to review and update promotion and tenure guidelines.

McCormick added that Lejuez and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Amy Cook had numerous conversations with faculty, administrators, and department staff on potential changes and their implications. The first set of changes, such as new deadlines, were announced last March and will go into effect in 2025, while other iterative changes are currently being discussed with the academic community.

"The importance of marking this moment was part of our reasoning behind creating a yearly calendar of dates for the steps in the process of a candidate going up for tenure and promotion," Cook said, noting the many steps necessary for faculty to become tenured.

The ceremony also honored Brooke Ellison, who passed away last spring and was posthumously promoted to full professor. Ellison's parents, Jean and Ed Ellison, attended the event.

"Jean and Ed, it is an honor to have you here tonight and to have this opportunity to recognize the profound contributions Dr. Ellison made as a researcher, scholar, and advocate wholly dedicated to inclusive education, healthcare, and disability rights," said McCormick.