Stony Brook University has announced a $56.6 million gift from the Simons Foundation and its sister foundation, Simons Foundation International, to launch an initiative focused on improving the pathway to STEM careers for underrepresented students. 

The funding will support the Stony Brook Simons STEM Scholars Program, which will launch in the fall of 2023 and provide four years of scholarship support, housing, and stipends to 50 STEM students annually, as well as a Summer Bridge Program for incoming freshmen, where students will acclimate to the university and become part of the Stony Brook Simons STEM Scholar community before formal coursework begins, meet the mentors and advisors who will support and guide them, and become acquainted with their peers. In addition, the scholars will receive academic and career advising, peer and faculty mentoring, community-building activities, networking opportunities, stipends for program-related travel and study abroad opportunities, alumni support and outreach, and access to off-campus learning and research opportunities at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

“We could not be more excited and grateful to enter this new partnership with the Simons Foundation. The Stony Brook Simons STEM Scholars Program will allow young people to reach their potential as they bring new, much-needed diversity of perspective to science and innovation,” said Stony Brook University president Maurie McInnis. “At any given time, we will have 200 future STEM leaders on our campus, forging their way in the STEM fields and setting the stage for future generations of students to follow in their footsteps. I cannot wait to welcome our first cohort to Stony Brook in 2023.”

“We need scientists and mathematicians who are reflective of our diverse world, and the scientific and educational communities must work together to find, train, and support underrepresented scientists and mathematicians,” said Simons Foundation president David Spergel. “That’s why the foundation is making its largest investment yet in diversity through the Stony Brook Simons STEM Scholars Program. Stony Brook University has shown a real commitment already to access and opportunity. They’re our ideal partners in this.”

(Photo Credit: Stony Brook University)