Listen to this articleAndrea Goldsmith is Stony Brook University’s next president, the institution’s seventh. She will lead the university beginning Aug. 1, according to the State University’s Board of Trustees and Chancellor John King, who announced her appointment on Wednesday.
Goldsmith is currently dean of engineering and applied science at Princeton University, where she has also served as a researcher in engineering, technology company founder and faculty member. Previous roles include those at Stanford University and Caltech.
Goldsmith’s “impressive experience as a dean, faculty member, and researcher at R1 universities, as a successful innovator, and as a committed educator and academic leader makes her an extraordinary choice to lead this esteemed SUNY institution to new heights,” King said in the news release announcing Goldsmith’s appointment.
As leader of the university, Goldsmith will also oversee Stony Brook Medicine, including its academic medical center, five health sciences schools, three hospitals, a skilled nursing facility and more than 200 community-based healthcare settings.
“Stony Brook’s commitment to academic excellence, research innovation, and social mobility resonates profoundly with my values, and I am deeply honored to join this remarkable institution,” Goldsmith said in the news release.
“I look forward to getting to know the Stony Brook community and to working alongside Stony Brook’s exceptional faculty and staff to serve our students and build upon the university’s upward momentum to achieve new heights of success in education, research, service, and global impact,” she added.
“The search for Stony Brook’s next president was a rigorous and comprehensive process, and the exceptional caliber of candidates reflected the university’s growing prominence,” Kevin Law, chairman of the Stony Brook Council and Presidential Search Committee, said in the news release.
“Dr. Goldsmith stood out as a leader with the vision, expertise, and dedication to take Stony Brook to new heights,” Law added. “We are confident she is the ideal choice to lead us into an exciting future.”
Goldsmith “has the expertise, forward thinking, and diverse skill set to take SUNY’s flagship institution to even greater heights,” Matt Cohen, president and CEO of the Long Island Association said in the news release.
“As the largest single site employer on Long Island, Stony Brook is an economic powerhouse at the forefront of scientific and technological discovery, and under the strong leadership of Dr. Goldsmith and through its collaboration with the LIA and world-renowned research assets like Brookhaven National Laboratory and others, our region will enhance its economic competitiveness and spur new growth,” Cohen added.
Goldsmith will take the reins from Richard McCormick, who served as the university’s interim president. The previous president, Maurie McInnis, left to lead Yale University.
Goldsmith received a B.S. in engineering math as well as M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.
Her research interests are in communications, control and signal processing, and their application to wireless communications, interconnected systems and biomedical devices. She founded and served as chief technical officer of Plume WiFi (formerly Accelera, Inc.) and of Quantenna Inc, and she serves on the board of directors for Intel, Medtronic, Crown Castle Inc, and the Marconi Society. She also served on the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology from 2021 through 2025.
Goldsmith is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, Royal Academy of Engineering, Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She earned awards for her work, including induction into the Wireless History Foundation Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the Marconi Prize, the IEEE Dresselhaus Medal, the IEEE Education Medal, the ACM Sigmobile Outstanding Contribution Award, the WICE Mentoring Award, and the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal’s Women of Influence Award.
She is author of the book “Wireless Communications” and co-author of the books “MIMO Wireless Communications,” “Principles of Cognitive Radio,” and “Machine Learning and Wireless Communications,” all published by Cambridge University Press, as well as an inventor on 38 patents.
