For Immediate Release: Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018

Contact: Holly Liapis; Holly.Liapis@suny.edu; 518-320-1311

Albany – The State University of New York Chairman of the Board H. Carl McCall and Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson today congratulated Stanley S. Litow, member of the Board of Trustees, on being named winner of the 2018 Corning Award for Excellence. Trustee Litow joins a distinguished list of past Corning Award Winners, including former Governors of New York State, legislative leaders, and business executives. This honor recognizes his years of service to IBM, New York State, and its citizens.

“Stan Litow is highly deserving of this honor, as witnessed by his longstanding track record of working to make education more accessible to students all throughout the state of New York, his dedication to enriching young minds as an educator, and the passion he brings to his role as a member of the Board of Trustees for the State University of New York,” said SUNY Chairman McCall. “We at SUNY are delighted to congratulate Stan on receiving this award.”

“Being accomplished in one’s profession is certainly laudable, but taking it a step further to use one’s career as a way to improve the lives of others is admirable and worthy of recognition,” said SUNY Chancellor Johnson. “Trustee Litow has dedicated his life’s work to helping others. We cannot think of a better individual to receive the Corning Award for Excellence, and we extend our congratulations to him for receiving this prestigious honor.”

“The Corning Award for Excellence is given each year to the individual who best demonstrates an outstanding level of accomplishment in their chosen discipline, as well as a deep and sustaining commitment to the people of New York. I can think of no honoree who better exemplifies that description than Stan Litow,” said Heather C. Briccetti, Esq., president and CEO of The Business Council of New York State, Inc. “A lifelong education advocate, Stan Litow has spent his career working on achieving sustained educational success for all New Yorkers. As the pioneer of the innovative P TECH education model, Mr. Litow has positively impacted the lives and futures of hundreds of students statewide. We are delighted to honor Mr. Litow for his decades of achievement and thank SUNY for recognizing the contributions of their board member.”

About Stanley S. Litow

Trustee Litow was appointed as a member of the SUNY Board of Trustees on June 24, 2015. He is a professor at Duke and Columbia University along with serving as Vice President Emeritus, Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs & President Emeritus, for the IBM International Foundation.

A lifelong education advocate, Trustee Litow spent his nearly 25-year career at the IBM Foundation organizing and leading three National Education Summits; creating New York State Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH), the innovative school to college to career program now spreading across the nation; facilitating the Corporate Service Corps, which deploys thousands of IBM top talent on pro bono consulting projects globally; developing the World Community Grid a free virtual supercomputer; and was instrumental in the creation of Teacher Advisor with Watson, a personalized free "coach" helping teachers improve their teaching. 

Trustee Litow is a frequent keynote speaker and panelist at major conferences on philanthropy and corporate leadership in the U.S. and around the world. He is the author of the new book "The Challenge for Business and Society: From Risk to Reward” published by John Wiley & Sons.

The ceremony will take place on September 24, 2018 at The Business Council 2018 Annual Meeting. Registration is open for those wanting to attend in person.

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, with 64 college and university campuses located within 30 miles of every home, school, and business in the state. As of Fall 2017, more than 430,000 students were enrolled in a degree program at a SUNY campus. In total, SUNY served nearly 1.4 million students in credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs in the 2016-17 academic year. SUNY students and faculty across the state make significant contributions to research and discovery, resulting in $1 billion of externally sponsored activity each year. There are 3 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 opportunity, visit www.suny.edu.

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