Dr. Samuel Stanley, vice chancellor for research at Washington University, has been named president of Stony Brook University in New York.

The Board of Trustees of the State University of New York voted unanimously today to appoint Stanley, also a molecular microbiology professor, to the post. He will begin July 1.

At WashU, where he has been vice chancellor of research since 2006, he has helped oversee $548 million in research, including $391 million from National Institutes of Health funding. Since 2003, Stanley has also served as director of the Midwest Regional Center for Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, which is funded by the NIH. He has been at WashU since 1983.

“What makes Sam Stanley the best person to lead Stony Brook University is not just that he is a prominent biomedical researchers, a talented academic administrator, and a published scholar who serves on important national committees related to his field of expertise, but that he was also presented with the Distinguished Service Teaching Award from the students of Washington University,” SUNY Board of Trustees Chairman Carl Hayden said in a news release.

At Washington U., Stanley became vice chancellor of research at a time when the university was being criticized for being slow to commercialize academic discoveries. In his post, Stanley worked to try to speed up the process.

In a profile of Stanley posted to Stony Brook’s Web site, Washington University Chancellor Mark Wrighton praised Stanley for his research and leadership.

“He has led important changes in the Office of Technology Management that have improved efficiency and helped to generate a greater enthusiasm for technology-transfer efforts,” Wrighton said.

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