The Stony Awards
The Stony Awards offer the Stony Brook University community a way of publicly recognizing
and rewarding those employees who go above and beyond to help us make a difference
for our campus, local communities and the world in which we all live. Each of the
awards includes public acknowledgement at an annual, University-wide awards ceremony and celebration, a commemorative plaque, and campus-wide recognition in University publications.
Common criteria for all awards include the following:
- All nominees must be employed for at least one year (with the exception of the Excellence in Leadership and Service Award, which requires two years of employment).
- Nominees not selected are eligible for nomination in the next active selection process.
- Award recipients are not eligible for renomination for four years.
View individual award descriptions and criteria on the nomination page.
2024 Stony Award Winners
President’s Stony Brook Champion Award
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Rick Gatteau
Vice President for Student Affairs
President’s Award for Nurturing a Welcoming, Inclusive Campus Culture
2024 Finalists:
WINNER Rewa Thompson Thompson joined Stony Brook University in 2014. As a nurse practitioner and educator,
she advocates for women’s healthcare and reproductive rights, and leads nursing students
to strive for clinical excellence. Her scholarship is deeply rooted in promoting health
equity and mitigating bias and racism in nursing instruction. She is the co-chair
of the Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Social Justice (IDEAS) committee.
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Laurel Scheinfeld Scheinfeld is a health sciences librarian who prioritizes work that promotes equity,
diversity and inclusion. She forged a successful partnership between University Libraries
and the veteran student office, and has collaborated on award-winning research that
uplifts underrepresented communities: The “Hispanic/Latinx Inclusive Terminologies
Project” and “A Systematic Review on Sexual Health and Drug Use Prevention Interventions
for Black Girls.”
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Lauren Donovan Donovan is business manager for the academic centers and institutes in the College
of Arts and Sciences. Previously, she worked at The Institute for the Conservation
of Tropical Environments in the Department of Anthropology before being appointed
as assistant director of STEM Smart programs in the Department of Technology and Society.
There she managed research proposals to increase traditionally underrepresented students
in STEM majors.
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Mitchell Trinka After coming to Stony Brook University in 2018, Trinka toyed with the idea of creating
a campus beautification committee — a dream he fulfilled in 2022. The broad-based
initiative helps students — such as Xiaohui (Katie) Wang, who painted the “Spread
Your Wings” mural on the wall adjoining the LGBTQ* Center and West Side Dining — realize
their creative ambitions. Trinka has plans to add placemaking pieces across Stony
Brook, including an octopus mural at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.
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President’s Award for Excellence in Patient Service
2024 Finalists:
WINNER Poonamdeep Gill, MD Gill is committed to providing comprehensive psychiatric care and holds expertise
in emergency psychiatry, psychotic disorders, and addiction and substance abuse. Gill
graduated from Ross University School of Medicine in 2011, completed her residency
in psychiatry at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine in 2014, and pursued
a fellowship in Psychiatric Child and Adolescent care at Ann & Robert Lurie Children's
Hospital in 2016.
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Colleen Healy Healy is a licensed master social worker in Stony Brook Medicine’s Comprehensive Psychiatric
Emergency Program (CPEP). While completing her degree at Stony Brook University, Healy
interned at CPEP and accepted a position as a psychiatric social worker in 2022. She
takes great pride in being a part of the Stony Brook team and supporting patients.
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Kacie Rocco Rocco is a licensed mental health counselor who began her work at Stony Brook University
at Counseling and Psychological Services, where she provided individual and group
therapy to students. In her current role as CARE team assistant director, she is committed
to promoting student well-being, and maintaining a safe and secure working and learning
environment for Stony Brook students and the campus community.
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Paula Tracy-Ashe Tracy-Ashe is a certified critical care registered nurse who has worked in the Post
Anesthesia Care Unit for the past 10 years. She became a peri-operative nurse navigator
two years ago. In this role, she facilitates communication between patient families
and surgeons. The goal: to reduce anxiety for families and to keep them informed on
patients’ care and progress through the surgical experience.
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Excellence in Leadership Award
2024 Finalists:
WINNER Rick Gatteau Gatteau is the vice president for student affairs. His 30-year career spans working
in residential life, academic advising, undergraduate education and student affairs.
Gatteau joined SBU in 2002 in academic advising; in 2018, he became part of the Division
of Student Affairs. Gatteau leads efforts to support student success, including focusing
on health and wellness, engagement in campus life and career development.
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WINNER Marianna Savoca, PhD Savoca, associate vice president for career readiness and experiential education,
leads initiatives to scale career readiness and improve access to high-impact, learning-integrated
internships and work experiences for all SBU students. Her work crosses divisional
lines, connecting career with academic departments, international programs, enrollment
management, advancement, economic development and student affairs. She is past president
of the Society for Experiential Education, a global professional association.
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Deborah Lowen-Klein Lowen-Klein, senior associate vice president in Advancement, is responsible for developing
and leading complex gift strategies for the university’s most generous donors in collaboration
with institutional leaders. She helped found the Women’s Leadership Council, a mentoring
group that connects Stony Brook’s most influential female alumni and friends with
accomplished undergraduate women who have exhibited resilience in the face of great
challenges.
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Melissa Hogarty Hogarty is assistant vice president for business for SBU’s divisions of Finance &
Administration, Executive Office, Government and Community Relations, and Marketing
and Communications, overseeing strategic human resources and finance and budget processes
and initiatives. She also co-leads a diversity committee that is committed to developing
and championing a work environment that celebrates the ideals of diversity, equity
and inclusion.
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Lindsi Walker Walker, senior associate provost for the Office of Global Affairs, serves as the university’s
senior international officer. Together with her team, Walker promotes university internationalization,
both on campus and globally. She finds great joy in witnessing how global experiences
positively influence our students and scholars, empowering them to flourish as citizens
and leaders.
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Community Award
2024 Finalists:
WINNER Tracey Walters, PhD Walters is a professor of literature in the Department of Africana Studies. She holds
an affiliate appointment with the Department of English and Women’s and Gender Studies.
Walters writes about the experiences of African diasporic women through the lens of
feminist studies and cultural studies. She is a leading scholar of Black British literature
and Classica Africana, a subfield of classical studies.
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Christine Marsh Since 2008, Marsh has played a pivotal role in the School of Dental Medicine and its
mobile dental clinic, serving as a dental hygienist and coordinator of community outreach.
Her commitment to improving oral health, particularly among underserved children,
has made a significant impact on numerous communities across Long Island. Within the
school, she is widely recognized as a dedicated leader in outreach initiatives.
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Christopher Paparo Paparo is the manager of the Marine Sciences Center, a state-of the-art seawater research
laboratory at Stony Brook Southampton. He assists graduate students and research faculty
set up and troubleshoot research projects on harmful algal blooms, ocean acidification,
seagrasses ecology, shellfish restoration, ocean acoustics and shark research. Paparo
is also the center’s naturalist, responsible for educating the public about Long Island
wildlife.
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Robert B. Harrison Harrison is a New York State certified senior business advisor specializing in manufacturing.
He has 35 years of executive operating experience at five Long Island manufacturing
companies, including a profitable startup enterprise. In his role at the Small Business
Development Center, he provides comprehensive support services to Long Island client
manufacturers, helping them to improve their products, processes and profits.
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SB YOU Award
2024 Finalists:
WINNER Surita Bhatia, PhD Bhatia is associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, a professor of chemistry
and director of the NSF NRT PhD training grant on quantitative analysis of materials.
She is an accomplished scholar, serving as PI or co-PI on grants totaling more than
$16 million from the NSF, NIH, Department of Energy, philanthropic foundations and
private industry. She has co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications.
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Lauren Candela As director of communications for Finance & Administration, Candela serves the division’s
1,200-plus teammates and the entire Seawolf community, while striving for transparent
and consistent communications efforts. She provides support and coordination for six
vice presidential divisions and their individual areas. Candela holds a master’s degree
in business administration from Stony Brook University and plays a key leadership
role in the university’s Campus Beautification Committee.
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Lori Kie Kie is the communications director for the School of Communication and Journalism
and the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. She is deeply committed to telling
stories across platforms and media that help students, faculty and communities discover
the world around them and have a meaningful impact on it.
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Lisa Benz Scott Benz Scott is executive director of the Program in Public Health and directs the Master
of Health Administration Program. She is a prior recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's
Award for Excellence in Faculty Service, a Healthcare Hero award recipient and serves
on boards for organizations such as the American Heart Association of Long Island
and the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health.
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Presidential Award for Extraordinary Service
The inaugural award created in 2024 was selected by the President to recognize an
employee who has consistently advanced the mission of Stony Brook University through
a demonstrated exceptional commitment to institutional excellence that has impacted
— and will continue to benefit — the University for years to come. This award is selected
and awarded at the discretion of the President.
WINNER
Judith B. Greiman
Former Chief Deputy to the President/Senior Vice President for Government and Community
Relations
Additional Award Recognition
There are outstanding awards facilitated by the Office of the Provost and the Office
of the SUNY Chancellor that recognize faculty and staff across a variety of disciplines.
The winners of the following awards will also be recognized at The Stony Awards:
Office of the Provost
Outstanding Mentor Award: Sandeep Mallipattu, James Pierre-Glaude
Outstanding Lecturer Award: Kevin McDonnell, Sara Santos
Stony Brook Trustees Award: Stanley Bak, Theodore Drivas, Ruobing Li, Carrie Mongle, Shanshan Yao
Distinguished Professors: Daniel Raleigh, Adam Singer, Jacobus Verbaarschot
Distinguished Service Professors: Joanne Davila, Susan Lane, Lawrence Martin, Laszlo Mihaly
Distinguished Teaching Professor: Marci Lobel
Office of the SUNY Chancellor: Chancellor's Awards for Excellence
Excellence in Teaching: Robin DeLuca-Acconi, Anna Geisherik, Jason Paradis, Tony Scarlatos, Ken Weitzman
Excellence in Adjunct Teaching: Maya Koga Endoh, George Giokas, Anna Melnikova
Excellence in Faculty Service: Rachel Bergeson, Holly Colognato, Kathleen de Riesthal, Suzanne Velázquez, Dina Vivian
Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities: Karena Chapman, John Hobbs, Paul Kelton, Ken-ichi Takemaru
Excellence in Professional Service: Marisa Bisiani, Nancy Black, Lauren Brookmeyer, Karen Levitov, Rachael Redhead, Christine Szaraz
Excellence in Librarianship: Mona Ramonetti
Excellence in Classified Service: Michelle Carbone, Steven Altman, Joseph Manitta