SBU Will Hire 25 New Faculty In Round One of Interdisciplinary Cluster Hire Initiative
Cluster Hire Initiative is Part of Stony Brook’s NY SUNY 2020 Plan Implementation to add more than 250 Faculty Over Five Years
STONY BROOK, NY, November 20, 2012 – Stony Brook University recently announced the results of its first interdisciplinary faculty cluster hiring initiative, part of Stony Brook’s SUNY 2020 plan to add more than 250 faculty over the next five years. Of the 36 proposals received in response to the first round of this initiative, five clusters were selected for funding, which will result in the hiring of 25 new faculty in the areas ofBehavioral Political Economy; Biomolecular Imaging; Coastal Zone Management and Engineering; Photon Science at the Joint Stony Brook-Brookhaven National Laboratory Photon Science Institute (JPSI); and Smart Energy Technology. (For additional information on these five funded cluster proposals, please visit https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/provost/ClusterHireInitiative.html.)
The proposals chosen to be funded this year were selected because they
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| President Stanley |
successfully met the criteria outlined in the request for proposals. They demonstrate the national and international relevance of the research field and its appropriateness to Stony Brook University; open-up new avenues for interaction and synergy of faculty across different fields; demonstrate the anticipated impact of the proposed hires on undergraduate and graduate education in emerging fields of study; and demonstrate strong potential for significant impact on the academic world, the state of New York, and the larger community.
“The goals of the cluster hiring initiative are to strategically place Stony Brook University on the emerging frontiers of research and knowledge and to enhance our ability to shape new fields of discovery, learning and engagement,” said Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D. “It will rejuvenate the intellectual capital of Stony Brook University and expand teaching and research in emerging fields of study that cut across traditional boundaries of academic disciplines.”
Stony Brook University Provost, Dennis N. Assanis, PhD, spearheaded the
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inaugural faculty cluster hiring initiative with the vision of enabling Stony Brook to attract exceptional scholars from around the world to expand collaborative and innovative teaching, and interdisciplinary and translational research, throughout the university.
“Every proposal we received was thoughtful, strategic and quite frankly, outstanding,” said Provost Assanis. “The range of proposals funded this year hold great promise for helping us accomplish our teaching and research missions and can make a marked difference to our campus’ intellectual atmosphere. They are aimed at addressing society’s most vexing challenges through the collaboration of natural, life, and social sciences; technology; medicine; humanities; policy; business; and the arts.”
The proposals were reviewed by a panel of 12 Distinguished SUNY Professors and Academy members (https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/provost/ClussterCommitteeBios.html) that provided their recommendations for funding to the Provost. “I am very grateful to all faculty members who embraced this initiative for their creativity, thoughtfulness, energy and scope that we saw in the submissions, a true testament of the interdisciplinarity on the Stony Brook campus. I am indebted to the review panel for their highly dedicated and impeccable review, and to Vice Provost, Axel Drees who worked closely with me in coordinating this effort. I would also like to thank the Deans and Department Chairs for their deep engagement and fastidious undertaking of this initiative to help the University advance new areas of scholarship,” said Provost Assanis.
“I look forward to the contributions these new faculty members will make, and the range of proposals we have funded this year hold great promise for helping us accomplish our goals,” said Provost Assanis. Cluster hire faculty searches have already been initiated in all areas that have been selected for this first funding cycle.
A second call for proposals for the interdisciplinary faculty cluster hiring initiative will be issued within the next few days. In parallel with the faculty cluster hiring initiative, the Provost is working with the Deans and the Chairs to sustain and enhance the excellence in the core disciplines as part of the annual faculty hiring process consistent with the strategic plans of the various units. In total, of the 250 hires, it is anticipated that approximately half will be invested into interdisciplinary cluster hires and the rest will be invested into building the core strengths within the disciplines.
© Stony Brook University 2012
