SUNY appoints first SUNY Poly president since Kaloyeros stepped down 7 years ago

The SUNY (State University of New York) Board of Trustees appointed Winston Oluwole Soboyejo as president of SUNY Polytechnic Institute on Tuesday, the college’s first permanent president since Alain Kaloyeros stepped down in October 2016 amidst federal corruption charges.

Soboyejo will take office on Oct. 2, following a string of four interim leaders over the last seven years.

Soboyejo said he is honored to lead such an “esteemed” research institution.

“SUNY Poly is an essential resource for both the Mohawk Valley and New York State,” he said in a statement. “I believe that by leveraging our existing partnerships and collaborations with other institutions and local workforce partners, we can continue to expand and build more opportunities for our students to succeed.”

Looking for new president

SUNY had announced a national search for a new permanent president in December when it also announced that the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Albany would be leaving SUNY Poly to become part of the University at Albany, which happened earlier this year.

The college, created within SUNY Albany in 2001 and accredited in 2004, had separated from the University at Albany in 2013 and merged with the SUNY Institute of Technology in Marcy in 2014 to form the two-campus SUNY Polytechnic Institute.

A month after Kaloyeros stepped down, Bahgat Sammakia was appointed interim president. He stepped down on June 30, 2018 and was replaced the next day by Jinliu “Grace” Wang who in turn left in Oct. 2020 to become executive vice president for research, innovation and knowledge experience at Ohio State University.

SUNY Provost Tod Laursen was then named interim president in Dec. 2020. Andrew Russell was named officer-in-charge in December, 2022 after Laursen stepped down.

The right man

Chancellor John King said that Soboyejo is the right man to take on the permanent presidency.

“Given SUNY’s leadership in engineering and semiconductor research and amidst a New York advanced manufacturing renaissance,” he said in a statement released by the state, “I could not think of a better candidate to lead one of our premier research institutions than Dr. Winston Oluwole Soboyejo."

“Through his broad relationships in academia and his own experience as a renowned scientist, Dr. Soboyejo will move SUNY Poly forward as the institution continues to be a driver of workforce development and a catalyst of cutting-edge technological research and innovation.”

Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. also expressed his relief that SUNY Poly has a permanent president again and his belief, based on what he's heard from local officials who helped with the church, that Soboyejo has the qualifications to lead the school, and its ties to a burgeoning, local advanced manufacturing sector, forward.

"This clearly shows that there's a commitment to SUNY Poly here in Marcy," said Picente, who has long asked for a permanent president, "and that this particular gentleman has an impressive resume in terms of what he's accomplished and he seems to fit right in with the mission."

Now everyone should be set to get on with SUNY Poly's most important mission, he continued, "and that's educating the people that go there, the next generations, and really expanding and making that the premier institution that we want it to be.”

Looking back at Kaloyeros

Kaloyeros, whom former Gov. Andrew Cuomo once called his “economic guru,” was suspended without pay in September 2016 after he was indicted on federal corruption charges for his part in a big-rigging scheme for multimillion-dollar economic development projects in Buffalo, Albany and Syracuse.

He was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison. His conviction was upheld by an appeals court and Kaloyeros reported to federal prison in March 2022.

But he was released on bail when the United States Supreme Court took up his case. The court vacated his sentence in May.

Getting to know Soboyejo

Here’s the background SUNY provided on new President Soboyejo:

• He is a a materials scientist and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, elected in 2021 for his research on the dynamic behavior of materials and for his leadership in STEM outreach to Africa. He’s also a member of the World Academy of Science.

• He’s worked at the Worchester Polytechnic Institute since 2017, as the dean of engineering; provost and senior vice president; and, most recently, interim president.

• He taught at Princeton University for 17 years as a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Before that, he taught at MIT.

• Soboyejo researches biomaterials and the use of nanoparticles to detect and treat disease, the mechanical properties of materials, and the use of materials to promote global development.

• He served as president and provost of the African University of Science and Technology in Abuja, Nigeria, a Pan-African school founded by Nelson Mandela Institutions.

• Soboyejo has also held research positions at McDonnell Douglas Research Laboratories in St. Louis, the University of Missouri in Columbia and the Edison Welding Institute in Columbus.

• He also served as an assistant professor of materials science and engineering and a faculty fellow in the Center for African Studies at Ohio State University.

• Soboyejo has written or co-written four textbooks and more than 400 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

• He earned a bachelor of science degree in engineering from King’s College in London and a Ph.D. in material science and metallurgy from the University of Cambridge.

Russell lauded his permanent successor as an outstanding choice to lead the college’s march toward becoming the state’s and the nation’s premier public polytechnic school.

“As a  leader and a scientist, he has demonstrated a profound commitment to societal well-being, and to the use of expert knowledge to benefit humanity and tackle some of the world’s most challenging problems in clean energy, medicine, and sustainable economic development,” he said.

“His extensive higher education experience, broad industry knowledge, and global perspective will serve our university community well.”

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: SUNY Poly gets new president, first since Kaloyeros corruption scandal