Deborah F. Stanley

President Deborah F. Stanley is the 10th President of the State University of New York at Oswego.

Her tenure has been driven by bold and inclusive leadership and a broad vision resulting in increased academic excellence, campus renewal and the creation of a learner-centered environment. She established the Presidential Scholarship Program for outstanding academic achievers, the Possibility Scholarship Program, and the pioneering Oswego Guarantee that promises the necessary classes will be available for students to complete a degree within four consecutive years and, during those years, there will be no increase in the cost of room or meal plans. She enhanced the Oswego Guarantee with the Graduation ROI in 2013 – a $300 Return on Investment (ROI) awarded to all first-time students who complete their baccalaureate degree in four years or less.

President Stanley initiated successful national accreditation for the School of Education and national and international accreditation for the School of Business. She led the creation of the School of Communication, Media, and the Arts, and recently established the college’s Syracuse campus, located in the Clinton Square area of downtown Syracuse. Under her leadership, new programs such as electrical and computer engineering, human-computer interaction, human development, biomedical and health informatics, cinema and screen studies and the online MBA programs were established. Additionally, President Stanley has overseen substantial growth of full-time faculty (41) over the last five years.

Her ambitious campus-wide renewal plan, now in its second decade, encompasses hundreds of millions of dollars in renovations and construction, including $118 million for the environmentally designated LEED Gold Shineman Center for Science, Engineering and Innovation; the revitalization and modernization of the college’s arts building Tyler Hall; The Village – a new townhouse residential complex on campus; and just this past fall (2018), the renovated Wilber Hall, marking the centralization of all School of Education departments under one, contiguous roof. She launched Oswego’s first comprehensive fundraising campaign garnering almost $24 million, spearheaded a massive upgrade of campus technology, internet and laboratory equipment and guided the college to its most culturally diverse student body in SUNY Oswego’s history—29% of the total undergraduate and graduate population including a record-setting 36% of the first-year class self-identified as culturally diverse at the start of the fall 2018 semester.

In 2011, President Stanley launched With Passion and Purpose: The Campaign for SUNY Oswego. The campaign engaged and inspired the Oswego family, including more than 16,000 donors representing alumni, employees, students, parents and friends and raised $43.48 million by 2016.

President Stanley has been an invited speaker and panelist at regional, national and international venues on topics such as sexual assault on campus, experiential learning practices and leadership. She serves on the American Council on Education’s Board of Directors, is past chair of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities board of directors, is a board member of the American Academic Leadership Institute, and serves on numerous other education, climate and leadership boards and institutes. Locally, she served as board chair of CenterState CEO. Stanley has served as a member of the CNY Regional Economic Development Council since its inception and was recently appointed as its co-chair.

Stanley earned baccalaureate degree with honors and juris doctor degree from Syracuse University, which has presented her its Distinguished Alumni Award. She was named a New York State Woman of Distinction in 2006 by The State Senate and, in 2010, received the Post-Standard’s Person of Achievement Award.