Stony Brook University Appoints Kevin H. Gardner as Vice President for Research

Stony Brook, New York, May 6, 2024 – Stony Brook University announced today that Kevin H. Gardner, PhD, former Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation at the University of Louisville, has been appointed Vice President for Research. Dr. Gardner will report to university President Maurie McInnis and is expected to join Stony Brook August 1, 2024.

In this role, Gardner will be the senior executive overseeing the development and stewardship of the university’s research and economic development enterprise. He will also serve as Stony Brook’s Operations Manager of the Research Foundation for the State University of New York, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit education corporation established to service the administrative activities related to sponsored research. The Vice President for Research is considered the university’s Chief Research Officer/Senior Academic Administrator who is responsible for the campus-wide advancement of the University’s research, scholarship and creative activity mission and oversees all services to the University provided by the Research Foundation of the State University of New York looking to benefit the state, nation and world. 

“Throughout his expansive career, Kevin has demonstrated exceptional leadership fostering interdisciplinary research, mentoring junior faculty in research excellence, and advocating to advance innovation, creative activities, entrepreneurship and economic development,” said President McInnis. “He deeply understands the importance of supporting faculty and innovative projects with multiple PIs and embraces the profound ways research universities can, and do, impact society. I know that Stony Brook will benefit greatly from his collaborative style and approach to reaching across institutions and industries to find new, innovative ways to apply knowledge and discoveries to real-world issues.”

Prior to working at the University of Louisville, Gardner was the Vice Provost for Research at the University of New Hampshire where he also was a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and held several positions including the Director of the federally-funded Recycled Materials Resource Center. He also served as the State Director of the New Hampshire Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Program. In addition, Dr. Gardner served as the George B. Mayer Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University and taught at Hofstra University. 

“It is an incredibly exciting time at Stony Brook University and I am thrilled to be joining this university at this time,” said Gardner. “There is tremendous opportunity for Stony Brook to increase its impact in the world through new knowledge generation, new ways of understanding our world and new ways of applying that knowledge and understanding to make the world a better place. Stony Brook has a mission as the state’s flagship institution to create this impact and to be known nationally and internationally for the impact the university’s faculty and students make. I am committed to advancing, recognizing and celebrating all the ways that the university’s faculty, clinicians, staff and students create and make a positive impact in the world every day and will work tirelessly to support them in their work.” 

Gardner earned his PhD and MS at Clarkson University and his BS from Union College. He also has his individual Professional Registration as a Professional Engineer in the State of Ohio.

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About Stony Brook University

Stony Brook University — New York’s flagship university and No. 1 public university — is going far beyond the expectations of today’s public universities. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. With nearly 26,000 students, more than 2,900 faculty members, more than 200,000 alumni, a premier academic healthcare system and 18 NCAA Division I athletic programs, Stony Brook is a research-intensive distinguished center of innovation dedicated to addressing the world’s biggest challenges. The university embraces its mission to provide comprehensive undergraduate, graduate and professional education of the highest quality, and is ranked as the #58 overall university and #26 among public universities in the nation by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges listing. Fostering a commitment to academic research and intellectual endeavors, Stony Brook’s membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU) places it among the top 71 research institutions in North America. The university’s distinguished faculty have earned esteemed awards such as the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation, Abel Prize and the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics. Stony Brook has the responsibility of co-managing Brookhaven National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy — one of only eight universities with a role in running a national laboratory. In 2023, Stony Brook was named the anchor institution for The New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island in New York City. Providing economic growth for neighboring communities and the wider geographic region, the university totals an impressive $7.23 billion in increased economic output on Long Island. Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stonybrooku/ and X@stonybrooku.