Inside this Issue
A metamorphosis from the inside out.
How we emerge changed from our yearlong cocoon.
Welcome to the reimagined digital home of Stony Brook University Magazine. As we emerged from a year sheltered away in a COVID-imposed cocoon, we knew the time was right to rethink how we could connect more fully with the Seawolves community. How could we engage and interact more actively with our alumni, students, faculty, staff and neighbors? Not just with what stories we told, but in how we told them? Through this metamorphosis to a more interactive platform, we hope to encourage conversations, spark fond memories, trigger curiosity, inspire action and generate more smiles while sharing the multifaceted Stony Brook story.
In this issue, we highlight how the pandemic emboldened our community members to grow and change, showcasing what they learned and how the knowledge they gained will move us all forward.
Adaptation and resilience were key to success for our faculty (see Ready for Their Close Up), our graduating students seeking jobs (Seawolves Rising), the Staller Center (Movie Magic) and the Alumni Association (Uniting Alumni). Collaborations fueled discovery and more opportunities for growth through new programs (Evolution of Education and A Perfect Blend) and campuswide projects (Q&A).
We also learned more about the heart of our campus — the people — with stories about the importance of connection, between students and staff (Following Her Heart), faculty and students (For the Love of Chemistry), alumni and students (Game, Set, Match) and old friends (An Element of Humor).
New this issue: We also wanted to provide a few “Extras,” short pieces to help you see our Seawolves community in a different light.
We hope you enjoy this issue. Please let us know what you think and how we can continue to adapt and grow. We look forward to receiving your input: SBUMagazine@stonybrook.edu.
Katey- Rose Redhead was inspired by the pandemic in the same way we were. Redhead, a studio art major graduating May 2021, created Untitled #1 (triptych from the Strenuis Series), 2020, acrylic on canvas, late last year. It was hanging in the gallery space on the second floor of the Staller Center when Karen Leibowitz, our art director, discovered its serendipitous connection with our Spring magazine.
In the art gallery label that accompanied her work (reproduced below), Redhead describes her vision:
The beginning of the lockdown, due to the pandemic which started in March 2020, produced a path of learning, growing and adapting to a new style of life. The occasional pleasures of life such as eating at a nice restaurant or spending time with family and friends, seemed to me like a dream that I wished I had not woken from. Fortunately, although I was now awake, I realized that my potential in certain activities was yet to be discovered. I realized that I could cook meals more frequently because eating out was no longer an option, and I could pick up a new skill even if the way I learned had to change with the current times. I began learning how to be more resourceful and even better, more capable. Untitled #1 represents my practical experiences in lockdown while artistically manifesting my own reflection of reality.