The Stony Brook Alumni Association celebrated its 50th Anniversary on August 28, 2015. For the last 50 years, the Association has supported its extensive network of Stony Brook alumni around the world (now 160,000 alumni strong) and built bright futures for the next generation of Stony Brook graduates.
“Birthday” Wishes from Our Alumni Around the Globe
Photos from Across the Decades
The Alumni Association Over the Years
1960’s
In 1961, the first 25 graduates of Stony Brook, then called the Long Island Center and located in Oyster Bay, received their BS Degrees.
The Alumni Association is established on August 28, 1965 by its first President Phil Mighdoll and board members Patricia Glenn, Stephen Auerbach, Marilyn Vilagi, Renee Warshofsky, Edward Wetter and Phyllis Wilensky. The Alumni Association celebrates its first reunion weekend on June 16-18, 1967, inviting back all graduates, including the newest graduates from the Class of 1967.
1970’s
The inaugural alumni publication Stony Book People is published, a newspaper (tabloid-sized) style publication published five times a year.
The Association establishes their first scholarship, the Ashley L. Schiff Memorial Alumni Scholarship Fund in memory of one of Stony Brook’s best known faculty members, the 37-year-old associate professor of political science and master of Cardozo College who died suddenly.
The Alumni Association partners with POLITY and Student Affairs to begin offering career services to undergraduate students, graduate students and alumni, and also establishes the Alumni Career Advisors Network.
The first ever alumni Homecoming activities are offered in collaboration with the greater student programming efforts already taking place; including Club Football Game, educational seminars and an Oktoberfest party.
The Alumni Association makes its single largest gift to date of $1,500 in support of campus development projects.
The Washington DC Alumni Chapter (the Association’s first regional chapter) is established for alumni from DC, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia.
1980’s
The Alumni Association makes its first visit to the west coast delivering a State of the University Address to the Stony Brook alumni residents of California and setting in motion the Northern California Alumni Chapter.
The newly established New York City Alumni Chapter hosts a record attendance of over 100 alumni in NYC for an ethnic feast at Puglias in Little Italy.
The Association establishes the Distinguished Alumni Awards recognizing Stony Brook’s most accomplished alumni.
1990’s
The Alumni Association celebrates its 25th Anniversary on August 28, 1990.
Stony Brook Magazine, later known as The Brook, a glossy “TIME” style magazine, is produced for alumni and friends of the University.
1990’s
The Washington DC/Baltimore Alumni Chapter hosts its first “A Day at the Ball Park.”
The Class of 1961 celebrates the first 30th Class Reunion at the Oyster Bay campus, which included the classes of 1962-1965, all of whom attended the old campus.
The Association announces its partnership with admissions to engage alumni volunteers in student recruitment efforts.
With the generosity of William and Jane Knapp ’78 (Jane, a former Board President), the alumni office is moved to the heart of campus on the first floor of the Frank Melville Jr. Memorial Library overlooking the “Staller Steps.” A dedication ceremony was held on September 12, 1996, to name the office, the William and Jane Knapp Alumni Center.
2000’s
The Association establishes the $1,000 Alumni Dean’s Choice Awards, which enables the Deans to provide a $1,000 prize to a promising student of their choice.
The classes of 1961-1966 celebrate their 40th Class Reunion calling it The Founders Reunion.
Alumni of the Founders classes then organize to establish The First Alumni Endowed Scholarship, a scholarship award for a student, who like them, are the first in their family to attend college.
The first annual Stony Brook Alumni Association Scholarship Golf Classic is held on May 8, 2002 to raise funds to support student scholarships.
2010’s
Generation One, the first reunion to celebrate Stony Brook’s first generation of alumni from the classes of 1961-1981, is held on April 28, 2012.
The DC Alumni Chapter celebrates the 20th Anniversary of their signature event “A Day at the Ballpark.”
The New Jersey Alumni Chapter kicks off with an alumni networking reception.
The Alumni Association makes its largest single gift to the University in the amount of $125,000, which was matched by the Simon’s Challenge (a matching gift challenge from Drs. Jim and Marilyn Simons and the Simons Foundation) for a total impact of $250,000.
The Alumni Association and Liberty Mutual celebrate their 25-year partnership.
The Alumni Association celebrates its first annual 50th Anniversary Class Reunion with the class of 1964, the inaugural class to be inducted into the Brook Heritage Society, a new Stony Brook tradition for alumni who reach their 50th Anniversary of graduation from Stony Brook University. They were joined by the Founders classes of 1961, 1962, and 1963. View video: An oral history from Stony Brook’s first, 50 years later.
Former Alumni Association presidents establish the Past President’s Alumni Scholarship beginning with collective gifts totaling $100,000.
Add comment