2026 Stony Award Finalists
September 10, 2026
During my first year as your president, it has become apparent that the most exceptional dimension of our university is all of you — our people. You are the foundation of our excellence, the fuel behind our momentum, and the inspiration for our dreams to advance this university toward even greater achievement. You create the warm and welcoming community that lifts up every Seawolf and allows all of us, individually and collectively, to thrive. Every day, I am reminded that Stony Brook’s excellence and impact across all dimensions of its mission — education, research, healthcare, and service — is due to the creativity, vision, dedication, compassion, and hard work of its people.
The Stony Awards were created in 2023 to amplify your legacies, and to highlight some of the remarkable individuals making a significant difference here at Stony Brook. Today it is my honor to announce the finalists for the 2026 Stony Awards in celebration of exemplary achievements across our community. Our selection committee reviewed hundreds of nominations, each telling a compelling story about the nominee’s incredible contributions and their significant positive impact. Thank you to everyone who submitted a nomination and to our committee members for your thoughtful work. Every nominee should be celebrated for their excellent work, which made the selection of finalists extremely difficult.
I am thrilled to announce the remarkable and inspiring finalists for each category of the award below, who we will honor in grand fashion on November 10 at our Stony Awards gala:
President’s Award for Nurturing a Welcoming, Inclusive Campus Culture
Lorre Cahill
Glenn Dausch
Chikako Nakamura
Robert Nocito
Excellence in Leadership Award
Megan Aiello
Rose Tirotta Esposito
Rachelle Germana
Jamie Saragossi
Emily Snyder
Excellence in Patient Service
William Caldwell
Michele Cinelli-Corona
Heather Lawrence
Brittni Munn
Michael Tufano
Community Award
Rasheed Davis
Eric Lamberg
Marshall Leonard
Daniel Singer
Unity Watts-Bailey
SB YOU Award
Al DiVenuto
Frank Imperiale
Karen Kernan
Kathleen McGoldrick
Ashley Staples
In addition to announcing the winners from each of these categories at the awards event, one of these winners will be selected as the recipient of the President’s Champion Award for outstanding service that furthers our institutional mission, values and goals. I encourage you to learn more about all of our finalists by visiting the Stony Awards website.
As we look to achieve our bold vision for Stony Brook as defined by our strategic plan ASPIRE 2035, the Stony Awards are a powerful reminder of the excellence and impact of our people that will provide the foundation of our success. Congratulations to our finalists and to all who were nominated. The contributions you make to Stony Brook and to our community have tremendous positive impact for which we are all deeply grateful.
Sincerely,
Andrea Goldsmith
President