MARCY, N.Y. — He may be nervous about his upcoming first Mohawk Valley winter, but Winston Oluwole Soboyejo is anything but anxious about his new role as SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s seventh president. Soboyejo began in the post on Oct. 2, succeeding Officer-in-Charge Andrew Russell. After serving as a professor at Princeton University for about 17 […]
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MARCY, N.Y. — He may be nervous about his upcoming first Mohawk Valley winter, but Winston Oluwole Soboyejo is anything but anxious about his new role as SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s seventh president.
Soboyejo began in the post on Oct. 2, succeeding Officer-in-Charge Andrew Russell.
After serving as a professor at Princeton University for about 17 years and leading Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) as interim president for the past year, there were several things that really appealed to Soboyejo about SUNY Poly and led to him applying for the president’s role.
First was the surrounding community, which he describes as welcoming. It’s a place where he could see himself working, living, and playing.
Soboyejo also sees the start of a renaissance happening in the region, and that appeals to him as well. “I see just tremendous opportunity to be part of this ecosystem,” and help to produce the workforce of today and tomorrow, he says.
Soboyejo was able to play a part in the renaissance of the Worcester, Massachusetts community while serving at WPI, so it’s a role he’s both familiar with and eager to fill again.
“There have been lots of efforts going on in this region,” Soboyejo says. He envisions a future where the region becomes the east coast counterpart of the Silicon Valley.
“Most importantly is the idea of building community,” he says of how SUNY Poly joins the renaissance. Building community encompasses many things, from forging partnerships with other institutions and businesses, to creating different pathways to attract people to STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) programs.
Those programs play a key role in driving the economy of Central New York today and well into the future, he says, with companies like Wolfspeed right next door to SUNY Poly and Micron Technology coming to the Syracuse area. It’s SUNY Poly’s job to deliver work-ready STEM graduates to those and other companies, Soboyejo stipulates.
To do that, SUNY Poly will step up its programming game with investments in things like and other programs in hopes of increasing interest in STEM degrees across diverse communities, he says.
This is also where collaboration with other institutions will be key, he says. “We can only fill all those positions when we work collaboratively.”
Doubling down on STEM just makes sense, Soboyejo says, especially after the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) reunified on the University at Albany campus after the college was split for almost a decade between Albany and SUNY Poly’s Marcy campus.
SUNY Poly lost about 120 of its approximately 3,000 students and some faculty during this process earlier this year, Soboyejo says, but the important thing now is to focus on what is left. From artificial intelligence to smart technology, “what’s left is really a tremendous resource for the region,” he contends.
Soboyejo is already working to maximize that, including an initiative to partner with the Air Force Research Laboratory, Griffiss Institute, and other local universities to build a strong group focused on additive manufacturing. The process builds three-dimensional objects by layering. It’s used in numerous industries including automotive, medical, and aerospace.
SUNY Poly is also in talks with Mohawk Valley Health System and other health-care stakeholders so the school can build on its existing strengths in health sciences and explore biomedical engineering programs, Soboyejo says.
“This is a massive opportunity for us,” he says of SUNY Poly’s future.
Soboyejo holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from King’s College in London and a Ph.D. in materials science and metallurgy from the University of Cambridge. He was a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University for about 17 years. He started at Worcester Polytechnic Institute as dean of engineering and engineering leadership and also served as interim provost before he was named provost and senior VP in 2019. He also served as president and provost of the African University of Science and Technology in Abuja, Nigeria.
His research focuses on biomaterials and the use of nanoparticles for the detection and treatment of disease, the mechanical properties of materials, and the use of materials science to promote global development.
In 2021, Soboyejo was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for his contributions to understanding the dynamic behavior of materials and for leadership in STEM outreach in Africa.