A Message from the Dean
In only 18 years, the Turner Fellowship Program has done great things for Stony Brook University . The program has enabled us to recruit more high-achieving diverse graduate students. Our diverse student and faculty population has enriched everyone on campus. Alumni of the Turner program carry out important research, scholarship, and teaching missions all over the country and inspire new generations of young people to follow their lead into higher education.

Universities compete to attract top students of varied social backgrounds, and the educational and societal value of this diversity has been reaffirmed by the United States Supreme Court. These students can choose among numerous prestigious institutions nationwide. The Turner Fellowship Program enables Stony Brook to recruit some of the top students in the state and the nation, as evidenced by the accomplishments of our graduates. There also has been a multiplier effect, as the number of students from diverse social backgrounds has increased by a much larger percentage than can be explained by the mere availability of Fellowship funds. The Turner program has helped us create an environment that is attractive to ambitious students, and Stony Brook benefits more every year through the contributions they make to the quality of life on campus.

We achieved a great deal in the first 18 years of this program. We have educated students who are now professors in universities and leaders in industrial research. In addition, we offer a Postdoctoral Faculty Traineeship to increase further the number of qualified individuals from diverse backgrounds who will take up faculty positions. We have concentrated our energies on training individuals who will be leaders. We are pleased with what we have accomplished, but we are nowhere near finished. With legislative support and the hard work of our faculty, Fellows, and Turner alumni, we can continue to provide the education that will be necessary for the best and the brightest to take their places in the diverse educational and industrial world of the 21st century.

Lawrence Martin, Ph.D.
Dean of the Graduate School