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Funding Will Further Fuel New York’s Research Excellence; Brings Governor’s Total Investment in Higher Education Research Under Her Leadership to $1.34 Billion

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced $300 million to establish the Quantum Research and Innovation Hub at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, further catapulting New York’s national leadership in groundbreaking research that saves lives, grows the economy and improves national security.

“At a time when national investment in research and innovation is at risk, New York State is doubling down and SUNY is on the move,”

 Governor Hochul said. “The State University of New York at Stony Brook is a research powerhouse and will now be able to reach new heights in quantum. We know that to provide our state and nation with a brighter future, we need to invest today, and that is what New York is committed to do.”

Reversing years of disinvestment, since Governor Hochul took office in 2021, the State University of New York at Stony Brook has received $73 million in additional Direct State Tax Support operating aid and $969 million in additional State capital commitments (including the $300 million for the Quantum Research and Innovation Hub).

In addition to increased operating aid, Stony Brook has also received $12 million to support new full-time faculty, $8 million to fully close the “TAP gap,” and access to the State’s $500 million endowment match. The latter provides a $1.00 in Direct State Tax Support for every $2.00 raised by philanthropic activity at the University Centers.

The $300 million Quantum Research and Innovation Hub will be New York’s premier facility dedicated to leading-edge research and education in quantum science and technology, with a particular focus on quantum communication and networking.

Building on the State University of New York at Stony Brook’s current leadership in this area, the hub positions the State University of New York at Stony Brook to become one of the premier global centers for Quantum Information Science and Technology, ensuring that the United States leads the world in this critical technology area.

As part of this funding commitment, over the course of the current semester, the State University of New York at Stony Brook will engage in a rebranding to more fully align to the SUNY name and logo in order to consistently demonstrate and amplify SUNY’s leadership on research and in recognition of the campus’s role in New York State’s public higher education system. SUNY will work with each University Center on their own similar branding process.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said: “The State Legislature is committed to ensuring that New York’s public higher education system has the resources to thrive. This $300 million investment to establish the Quantum Research and Innovation Hub at Stony Brook reaffirms our dedication to making New York a leader in discovery and innovation. Supporting world-class research in quantum science and technology will fuel breakthroughs that grow our economy and prepare the next generation of students for the jobs of the future. This investment reflects our belief that public education should drive opportunity and excellence for all New Yorkers.”

Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie said: “As a proud alumnus of Stony Brook University and a staunch supporter of the public education system in New York State, continued investment in our educational institutions are tantamount for the future success of the next generation. Our research universities have become the driving force behind technological and scientific advancements. As our SUNY system continues to expand, bridging the educational gap and fostering innovation, we must persist in making these investments that solidify New York and SUNY campuses as premier educational institutions. I want to express my gratitude to the leadership of Governor Kathy Hochul and the tireless advocacy of my many colleagues in government.”

SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said:

“The State University of New York at Stony Brook is leading the way on cutting-edge research and emerging technologies, and this historic investment will accelerate efforts to ensure New York State is a global leader for generations to come. SUNY is committed to achieving Governor Hochul’s goal to double research expenditures for the sake of our students and our state.”

Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said: “ESD was proud to support the Long Island Quantum Internet Test Bed at Stony Brook, laying the foundation for New York’s leadership in this transformative field. The creation of the Quantum Research and Innovation Hub marks the next step in expanding research capacity, cultivating top talent, and advancing breakthroughs that will drive economic growth and cement New York’s position as a global leader in quantum technology.”

State University of New York at Stony Brook President Andrea Goldsmith said: “Stony Brook is proud to have built the largest quantum network in the United States. Through such transformative research, in partnership with New York State and SUNY, we are accelerating technology advancement and its positive impact across our state and beyond.

The Quantum Research and Innovation Hub will spearhead the future of quantum computing and networking. We are grateful to Governor Hochul, Chancellor King, and SUNY for placing their trust in Stony Brook with this historic investment that further advances our leadership in quantum science and technology, and showcases the bold ground-breaking research across our campus that delivers solutions to society’s most pressing challenges.”

Governor Hochul has announced more than $1.34 billion over the last three years in State and matching private sector funding commitments for cutting-edge research by New York’s leading higher education institutions. These resources include support for the Empire AI research center for the public good — which is housed at the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) and includes leading public and private universities from across the state — as well as research investments through SUNY’s annual capital appropriations.

SUNY is the largest comprehensive public institution of higher education in the nation, and thanks to the steadfast support of Governor Hochul and state leaders, the SUNY system is a hub of innovation, discovery, and real-world impact. With groundbreaking research taking place at campuses throughout the state, SUNY is making progress toward achieving technological breakthroughs that will help shape the future of New York and the United States.

About the State University of New York at Stony Brook

The State University of New York at Stony Brook is New York’s flagship university and No. 1 public university. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. With more than 26,000 students, more than 3,000 faculty members, more than 225,000 alumni, a premier academic healthcare system, Stony Brook is a research-intensive distinguished center of innovation dedicated to addressing the world’s biggest challenges. The university embraces its mission to provide comprehensive undergraduate, graduate and professional education of the highest quality, and is ranked as the #58 overall university and #26 among public universities in the nation by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges listing.

Fostering a commitment to academic research and intellectual endeavors, Stony Brook’s membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU) places it among the top 71 research institutions in North America. The university’s distinguished faculty have earned esteemed awards such as the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation, Abel Prize, Fields Medal and Breakthrough Prizes in Mathematics and Physics.

Stony Brook has the responsibility of co-managing Brookhaven National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy — one of only eight universities with a role in running a national laboratory. In 2023, Stony Brook was named the anchor institution for The New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island in New York City. Providing economic growth for neighboring communities and the wider geographic region, the university totals an impressive $8.93 billion in increased economic output on Long Island.

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory.

In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.16 billion in fiscal year 2024, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.

The following is Governor Hochul’s  personal remarks about what the new center will accomplish:

Photos courtesy of the Governor’s Press Office.

“I don’t know how you don’t believe in the power of SUNY, we’ve seen that, but also how SUNY is embracing the power of quantum computing.

I mean, this is something I don’t think a few years ago people would’ve envisioned. I mean, that’s something the private sector does — we’re going to teach the basics here. There are leaders who’ve come before who’ve left their mark here. And I always want to mention James and Marilyn Simons on this organization, on this institution, and their belief and their ideas that maybe seem so wild and farfetched at the time, but really create an opportunity for them to be successful, but also to return to this great place and make massive, major investments.”

I know because we started a program a few years ago where the state would match contributions to endowments to our public institutions. I didn’t know that the Simons would break the bank on the first day. It was a lot of money. But it all came here. So I was like, okay, I have to go back to my Budget Director. And I thought it was a little here, there a little there. It’s all gone.

But I was there at those great announcements. But this institution has been the beneficiary of a lot of people who believe in what you do is the point. As I do and I look at your new leadership and the support of the trustees and everyone else who’s part of this — we’re creating an institute of advanced computational sciences and moving us in from the theoretical to the practical, which I probably won’t even understand when it becomes the practical.

But people who need to know will know, and that’s why to make further investments and to sort of catalyze our belief in the future of State University of New York at Stony Brook University. We’re investing big time today, big time. How does $300 million sound to you?

It’ll establish the new Quantum Research and Innovation Hub right here. You heard it here first, it’ll cement SUNY’s role as a global powerhouse. We don’t just want to be the best in the nation. That’s shooting too low. Our moonshot is to be the one recognized globally as the place where the smartest people want to be, and the smartest students want to be educated. And the ideas that are incubated here are commercialized, and we create more jobs here on Long Island in New York State. That’s my vision of how these investments will ultimately benefit all the people of our great state.

So that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to strengthen our leadership in the industries of tomorrow. And as you mentioned, I designated the Stony Brook University as a flagship because people say, “Well, how come some of these other states — you think about Michigan and California, other places in Texas — like they have a flagship. Well, why don’t we?” Well, if we don’t have one, I’m going to have one. I mean, I want to have my flagship.

So we had this kind of ambition in mind. With that designation, but also I knew that designation would help lift up the prestige of Stony Brook University and let’s look at some of the results. Freshman applications are up 65 percent. PhD applications are up 45 percent. This is the smartest in the nation and abroad, they want to be here — 45 percent increase, and faculty applications, because everybody wants to be part of the action, are up 100 percent. That’s what a designation and the leadership and the cultivation of this innovation hub, this whole concept of a place where the smartest people gather. The momentum that we’re experiencing here is nothing short of extraordinary, beyond my expectations. And that’s why I’m so excited but we’re not done. No matter what the topic is, I say we are not resting on our laurels. We’re never saying mission accomplished for anything, because I want to make sure that we establish New York’s brand as the place for the smartest minds gathered, but also there’s opportunities for everyone.

Whether it’s what we’re doing with free community college now – which is often a pipeline. President, you said that you started in community college yourself. And to realize that there’s a lot of adults, not everybody knows their future when they’re 18 years old and they take a pass on even applying to colleges.

But to say in our budget, again I thank our Senators and our Assemblymember for their support. We offer in the State of New York, for the first time ever, free adult learning free community college for anyone over the age of 25 to be able to go back and get a degree or an enhanced or get more credentials — and to really embrace these new opportunities and technologies and curriculum that weren’t there before.

So I want people to have a reset in life sometimes and just another chance to lift their credentials. And I’m going to call on the Chancellor, and maybe he knows this number. A few weeks ago I asked and said, “how many more students have applied to college at SUNY community colleges this year than last.” I think it was 16,000 — over 16,000 people. We just enacted this a few months ago.

So that shows the demand, and we’re focusing people on the jobs we know that there’s openings. Whether it’s health care or education, but also specific industry, advanced manufacturing in particular. But also the trades, I want more people to learning skills and so that’s what I get most excited about.

I want every single student to have the same shot at the American Dream that lifted my family out of its circumstances. My parents lived in a trailer park and my dad worked at the steel plant — it was tough, dirty work. His father worked there, his brothers were, this was the American dream for poor Irish immigrants, that was to be able to work at a steel plant and have a union card.

But my dad had an even bigger dream and he worked all day and had a little baby, my brother, lived in the trailer park. I came along a year later. We’re Irish, like I said, a year later and there’s more and more, there’s more lots of little kids. But he went on and pursued a college degree at night and when he got that credential, he’s able to move up out of the hard work in the factory and move into a different position there and ultimately took a risk — and I’d say this because I think I have the same risk-taking gene or else I wouldn’t be here. But my dad, when he was 30 and had five of his six kids, already had a secure job at Bethlem Steel. He had met a couple of guys who had just been involved in something crazy called computers, and my dad left his job. People thought he was crazy. And took a chance to join a couple of other guys who started before.

Four people started a company that worked in technology and solutions and went into companies and sold business, and I went on business calls with my dad and they almost went under so many times — we struggled and struggled. But eventually, they made it and grew to 3,000 employees in my hometown and took the company, not national, but global — my dad became the CEO.

I take all that success back to a decision he made to get a college degree. And whether you want to go into the trades out of high school, we have great programs and BOCES and others you can go on that path. And I meet so many people in that space as well. But for those who want to embrace these new opportunities of the future, they’re being developed and unfolded as we speak before our very eyes today.

Giving people that chance to get that degree without worrying about the cost. It is something I feel is a gift to the people of this State, and I’m so proud about that initiative and I know that there are going to be other lives that are transformed just as my family was because of that access to education.

So we’re going to have a brand new quantum hub here. It will be anchored by other institutions. It’ll be a data center, a network control room, an institute — all sorts of big, fancy names and people are going to make this happen. I’m going to come back and say, “That’s very cool, I don’t really quite understand it, but that’s all right. As long as you do, I don’t need to.”

But I’ll close with this. It just means an investment like this solidifies our position — as an incubator of ideas and possibilities and ultimately an educational system that’ll lead to more businesses being created and supported by the graduates of institutions like this.

This is the whole ecosystem because I want Long Island to thrive and prosper, and this is the linchpin — this is our key to unlock that even more. It’s a wonderful place to live, raise families. I know that our educational institutions K through 12 are outstanding, especially since the kids are finally off the cell phones.

I said our kids will be a lot smarter than the other states’ kids, I’m telling you I’m putting my money on them, but this is what it’s all about. It’s about opportunity, and I want to thank everyone involved in this because for me, this is a good day. And I can look out at a room full of true believers. People know that we just haven’t quite unleashed our full potential. And we’re going to seize it like this.”