5.19.22 – Samuel L. Stanley, M.D.

Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., was selected by the Michigan State University Board of Trustees as MSU’s 21st president, effective Aug. 1, 2019. Since his arrival at MSU, Dr. Stanley has moved decisively to ensure the university is a safe, respectful, and welcoming place for all. Student success and well-being and continuing to grow MSU’s extraordinary regional and global impact are his continuing top priorities.

Stanley has launched a comprehensive strategic planning process for the university, created a diversity, equity and inclusion planning committee and commissioned a feasibility study for a multicultural center. He appointed two expert presidential advisers who are directing the development and implementation of an action plan for the university to become a leader in preventing relationship violence and sexual misconduct.

Stanley has overseen several changes in the institution’s administration, organization, and programs to improve services, operations, and accountability. These include reorganizing oversight of the university’s three medical colleges and its clinical services into a health sciences entity. He seeks to continue to expand the university’s research portfolio, totaling $725 million in 2019 expenditures. A researcher, patent holder and former technology transfer executive, Stanley supports academic and industry collaborations to leverage both their economic impact and the potentially enormous contributions they can make to society.

Born in Seattle, Stanley earned a Bachelor of Arts in biological sciences (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Chicago. After earning his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, he completed resident-physician training at Massachusetts General Hospital and then went to Washington University in St. Louis for a School of Medicine fellowship in infectious diseases. There, he became a professor in the departments of medicine and molecular microbiology, recognizing the collaborative nature of his research. A distinguished biomedical researcher, Stanley was one of the nation’s top recipients of support from the National Institutes of Health for his research focusing on enhanced defense against emerging infectious diseases. He is an expert in the biological mechanisms that cells employ when responding to infectious agents.

Prior to becoming MSU’s president, Stanley served as president of Stony Brook University on Long Island in New York. At Stony Brook, he focused on improving campus diversity and student success and elevated the university’s research profile by supporting a new institute for artificial intelligence. He chaired the board of Brookhaven Science Associates, which manages Brookhaven National Laboratory on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Stanley has served as chair of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, which advises the U.S. government on issues related to the communication, dissemination, and performance of sensitive biological research. He was a member of the National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Diseases Council at the NIH and a member of the NIH director’s Blue Ribbon Panel on the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories. He also served as an ambassador for the Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research and has received an Honorary Doctorate in Science from Konkuk University in South Korea. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of American Universities and has served on the NCAA Board of Directors and NCAA Board of Governors.