Deborah F. Stanley is the 10th President of the State University of New York at Oswego and has served in that role for over twenty-five years. Prior to becoming president, she taught and earned tenure in the School of Business and served in administration as the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost.

Her tenure as president has been dynamic, driven by bold and inclusive leadership and a broad vision resulting in increased academic excellence, campus renewal, successful fundraising, and the creation of a learner-centered environment. She established the Presidential Scholarship Program for outstanding academic achievers that awards over $6 million each year, the Possibility Scholarship Program for disadvantaged students in the sciences, and the pioneering Oswego Guarantee that promises necessary classes will be available for students to complete a degree within four consecutive years and, during those years, there will be no increase in the cost for room and meal plans. She enhanced the Oswego Guarantee with the Graduation ROI in 2013 – a $300 Return on Investment (ROI) awarded to all first-time students who complete their baccalaureate degree in four years or less. President Stanley is currently completing the Path Forward campaign to double the amount of need based privately funded scholarships. 

President Stanley initiated successful national accreditation for the School of Education, national and international accreditation for the School of Business, and global accreditation by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of ABET for Oswego’s electrical and computer engineering and software engineering programs. She led the creation of the School of Communication, Media, and the Arts, and established the college’s Syracuse campus, located in the Clinton Square area of downtown Syracuse. Under her leadership, new programs such as electrical and computer engineering, human-computer interaction, human development, biomedical and health informatics, cinema and screen studies and the online MBA programs, including the design of an innovative MBA model in partnership with SRC, Inc., were established. Additionally, President Stanley has overseen substantial growth of full-time faculty over the past decade. 

Her ambitious campus-wide renewal plan, now in its third decade, encompasses just under $1 billion in renovations and construction, including $118 million for the environmentally designated LEED Gold Shineman Center for Science, Engineering and Innovation; the revitalization and modernization of the college’s arts building, Tyler Hall; The Village – a new townhouse residential complex on campus; and the renovated Wilber Hall, marking the centralization of all School of Education departments under one, contiguous roof. She spearheaded a massive upgrade of campus technology, internet and laboratory equipment and guided the college to its most culturally diverse student body in SUNY Oswego’s history—31% of the total undergraduate and graduate population including a record-setting 38% of the first-year class self-identified as culturally diverse at the start of the fall 2020 semester. 

Early on, President Stanley created the Vice Presidential Division of Alumni and Development and since then has led four fund raising campaigns that together have realized approximately $100 million. Under her leadership, with support from the Oswego College Foundation Investment Committee, SUNY Oswego’s overall endowment has grown from almost nothing to more than $54 million in 2021. Most notably, the SUNY Oswego endowment has outperformed the average rates of return on the NACUBO index for the past 14 years (and 17 out of the past 18 years). 

President Stanley has been an invited speaker and panelist at regional, national and international venues on topics such as sexual assault on campus, experiential learning practices and leadership. She serves as chair of the American Academic Leadership Institute, co-chair of Academic Search, Inc., state-wide co-chair of the State University of New York’s Student Mental Health Task Force, and is a former chair of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities board of directors. She served on the American Council on Education’s Board of Directors, and is a charter signatory of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. President Stanley served a three-year term as board chair of CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity, a major association in regional economic development, and is co-chair of the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council, one of ten councils across the state appointed by the Governor. 

Stanley earned a baccalaureate degree with honors and juris doctor degree from Syracuse University, which has presented her its Distinguished Alumni Award. She was named a New York State Woman of Distinction in 2006 by The State Senate and, in 2010, received the Post-Standard’s Person of Achievement Award. She is married to Attorney Michael J. Stanley. They have four adult children and six grandchildren.