Maurie McInnis, PhD, currently executive vice president and provost at the University of Texas at Austin and a renowned cultural historian, will become the sixth president of Stony Brook University, SUNY Board of Trustees Chairman Merryl H. Tisch and SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson have announced.
Dr. McInnis’s appointment, effective July 1, was announced following a vote by the State University of New York Board of Trustees.
“This is an exciting moment for Stony Brook, and I’m confident Dr. Maurie McInnis will take the university to even greater heights in its unique role in fostering innovation, creativity and research that impacts the state, country and the world,” said SUNY Chancellor Johnson.
“Dr. McInnis’s scholarship that advances cross-disciplinary research, her extraordinary advocacy on the part of faculty excellence and her demonstrated excellence in fostering greater opportunities for students through higher education aligns perfectly with the mission of Stony Brook University.”
“It is now as important as ever to support all our campuses with strong and proven leaders who can quickly navigate challenges, such as the impact of the coronavirus, and keep our students on a path to the world class higher education they expect,” said SUNY Chairman Tisch. “Dr. Maurie McInnis has demonstrated experience and the characteristics of such a leader, and we are entrusting her to lead and inspire the students and faculty of Stony Brook University for years to come.”
As chief executive for Stony Brook, Dr. McInnis will also oversee Stony Brook Medicine, Long Island’s premier academic medical center, encompassing five health sciences schools, three hospitals, and 120 community-based healthcare settings, and will play a key role in economic development on Long Island and in Stony Brook’s role as a co-manager of Brookhaven National Laboratory.
“Dr. Maurie McInnis is going to be an outstanding president of SBU and her 25 years of experience in public research institutions will be of tremendous value to our University,” said Kevin S. Law, President and Chief Executive Officer, Long Island Association, Inc. and Chair of the Stony Brook Council, who led the search committee. “I look forward to helping Maurie get acclimated on campus, on Long Island and in our state.”
Chancellor Johnson thanked Interim President Dr. Michael Alan Bernstein for his leadership since August 2019 after Dr. Samuel L. Stanley stepped down and the expansive search for the next president began, saying, “Interim President Michael Bernstein continues to lead the Stony Brook campus in extraordinarily uncertain times as the coronavirus evolves further. I am grateful to him for his thoughtful leadership.”
Dr. McInnis said she was honored by the opportunity to lead an institution that is “both at the forefront of groundbreaking research and committed to advancing the American dream.”
“The critical issues we face today have made it even more clear the important role higher education plays in educating tomorrow’s leaders and tackling today’s challenges by fostering cross-disciplinary research,” she said. “At higher education institutions, our responsibility is not just to admit students but to give them the tools to succeed throughout their collegiate careers and after graduation.”
As the chief academic officer for the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. McInnis leads strategic planning for the university’s academic mission, which includes academic programs and initiatives across 18 colleges and schools, serving and supporting more than 51,000 students and 3,000 teaching and research faculty. She is responsible for the budget for the university’s academic division, managing 1.8 billion of the institution’s 3.1 billion-dollar budget. She is also deeply involved in the university’s fundraising efforts, leading a team of development officers.
Additionally, Dr. McInnis oversees the university’s libraries and museums, archival collections, research centers and academic support units. During her tenure at UT Austin, Dr. McInnis has invested in numerous student and faculty support programs, including the Texas Advance Commitment to expand access to higher education for Texas families, and the Executive Management Leadership Program to provide faculty and administrators the opportunity to develop leadership skills helpful in academic leadership positions. Through strategic budgeting and strategic initiatives, she has focused efforts on recruiting and retaining exceptional faculty.
While at UT Austin, Dr. McInnis has made significant advancements and investments in equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives. She created the new position of Vice Provost for Diversity and spearheaded efforts to create school- and college-based diversity and inclusion committees and chief diversity officers.
Dr. McInnis has served as the executive vice president and provost of UT Austin since 2016. Previously, she spent nearly 20 years at the University of Virginia, ultimately as the vice provost for academic affairs. Her academic scholarship has focused on the cultural history of the American south. She has published extensively on American art history, including five books on the subject. Her most recent book, Slaves Waiting for Sale: Abolitionist Art and the American Slave Trade (University of Chicago, 2011) was awarded the Charles C. Eldredge Book Prize from the Smithsonian American Art Museum for outstanding scholarship in American Art.
She earned her bachelor’s degree with highest distinction in art history from University of Virginia, and received her master’s degree and PhD in art history from Yale University. Dr. McInnis is married with two children.
“After an exhaustive search conducted by a great team of individuals all invested in Stony Brook University’s future, we are pleased to announce Dr. Maurie McInnis as our next president,” said James H. Simons, search committee member and founder of Renaissance Technologies.
“Stony Brook and its values have held a special place in my heart, and I have every confidence that Maurie will uphold the University’s mission and lead the campus forward, strengthening its reputation as a world-class public university and research institution,” Simons said.
Welcome to Stony Brook, Dr. McInnis! We are happy to have you as our president and I am looking forward to meeting you at Stony Brook in person, hopefully soon. Best Wishes and Stay safe…
Welcome to SBU, Dr. McInnis!
I look forward to meeting you.
Well, I’m so glad that we now have a Humanities person heading our university instead of a science person that we’ve had for so long. Now maybe the arts will hold its rightful place at our university. Good luck Dr. McInnis. You’ll love Stony Brook as much as I do.
Agreed! So happy as you stated! Welcome to Stony Brook Dr. McInnis!
[…] Read the full press release from Stony Brook University News here […]
Dear Dr. McInnis,
I am not officially a part of the Stony Brook community, but am close to it because of two things. Some of my best-ever graduate students from NYU, and some of my most treasured colleagues make your music department one of the finest in the country. Second, I am a close friend Prof. Brooke Ellison who you may have already encountered: probably the only professor in the country who is a quadriplegic on a respirator. I associate her inspirational story with Stony Brook and as such, am glad to consider myself a part of your vibrant institution, and to welcome you to your new position at a difficult moment both for the country and the academy. I believe you will be an exemplary leader and that Stony Brook is lucky to have you!
Cheers,
Michael Beckerman
Carroll and Milton Petrie Prof. of Music
New York University
Dr McInnis, as a very proud Alumni of Stony Brook, I want to lend my sincere congratulations to you. May you continue to lead here at our Alma Mata with clear vision and deep passion and commitment you display.
All the very best in your new role!!
As the Director of Jazz Studies here at SBU, I’m delighted to welcome you to Stony Brook. I feel certain that we share many of the same concerns and enthusiasms and I can’t wait to read your book!
Dr. McInnis,
Congratulations… and best wishes for continued success!
John Chalifoux
MERA – The Association for Sustainable Manufacturing
SBU ‘85 & ‘ 89
I’m wonderfully impressed that the search committee has chosen someone whose academic background and ongoing interest is in art history. May this be the extraordinary asset to Stony Brook’s ongoing development that it promises to be.
Dr. McInnis, may God bless you and your family as you transition to Long Island, and may He guide and prosper your new professional endeavor.
Clare Joseph B.A. ’72
A warm welcome to the Stony Brook family from SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn. I am certain that aside from the University itself, you and your family are ‘gunna love’ Long Island!
Rich Bentley (class of 1980)!
Welcome to Stony Brook, Dr. McInnis. Our son just transferred to SBU as a mid-year sophomore Physics major, and our niece is a med school student there. Best of luck as you and your family make this transition, in challenging times for us all.
Welcome to Stony Brook, Dr. McInnis! As an alum and former employee of Stony Brook, I’m delighted that the university has appointed someone with both a humanities background and experience in administering public universities. It is a much-needed change, and I wish you the best of luck. I’m excited to see what you have planned for Stony Brook.
Dr McInnis , welcome to Stony Brook Univ. My daughter is a graduate of Stony Brook Univ. I am an undergrad and post grad alumnus of NYU and my husband a former prof of History at Queens College and an alumnus of the U of Illinois and U of Chicago and NYU ( both of us over 35 years ago ). Our daughter is looking to continue her graduate work at Stony Brook since she and we live on the south fork . But, like many who want to return as part time graduate students in the areas of Health Care , she needs to work full time as many young adults her age have to in order to cover their health insurance and mortgage and other bills. Is there any way where the Nursing Programs or Physical Therapy or Occupational Health Care Graduate Professional programs can be attended on a part time basis. Many college grads who live and work on the Eastern End of Long Island find that the College of Health Sciences is not willing to accommodate graduate students who need to work full time and attend such programs on a part time basis the way CUNY and NYU and Columbia Univ are set up to accommodate the full time adult graduate student at the College of Health Sciences and there aren’t enough programs at the Southampton Campus for such programs to service graduate students. Many young college grads from The Suffolk County area would like to enter health care professional graduate programs but Stony Brook College of Health Sciences makes it mandatory that they attend full time. We would appreciate it if you can hopefully look into helping those students open doors to these careers . If they cannot afford to attend full time because of financial obligations and responsibilities, then what future in these careers do we have for them. Thank you and best of luck. Stony Brook is an excellent University and a fine Research University with an excellent health care system that is serving the needs of Eastern And Western Long Island. Thank you. And once again , best of luck leading this fine research university and excellent health care system.
Congratulations Dr. McInnis! Welcome to the SUNY family. Look forward to meeting and working with you!
[…] Maurie McInnis, executive vice president and provost at the University of Texas at Austin, has been chosen as president of Stony Brook University, part of the State University of New York system. […]
[…] Maurie McInnis, executive vice president and provost at the University of Texas at Austin, has been chosen as president of Stony Brook University, part of the State University of New York system. […]
I am not officially a part of the Stony Brook community, but am close to it because of two things. Some of my best-ever graduate students from NYU, and some of my most treasured colleagues make your music department one of the finest in the country.
Dr McInnis, as a very proud Alumni of Stony Brook, I want to lend my sincere congratulations to you. May you continue to lead here at our Alma Mata with clear vision and deep passion and commitment you display.
All the very best in your new role!!
Read the latest update from President McInnis. Great to see programs, such as the Center for Climate Change Solutions (hopefully to be funded), Quantum Information Sciences and Technology and the Laufer Center for Physical and Quantitative Biology, all interest areas of mine, centered at Stony Brook. Let’s like a visit may be in order!
B. De4mczyk, PhD, MSE “99