Stars of Stony Brook Gala Honoring Drs Barry and Bobbi Coller

Stony Brook Foundation is honoring pioneering former faculty member Dr. Barry Coller, Hon.’03 and art historian/educator Bobbi Coller, PhD, at its annual Stars of Stony Brook Gala, Wednesday, March 11, 2020 at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers. This year’s celebration will recognize the Collers for their remarkable 43 years of service to Stony Brook and their myriad career accomplishments in the fields of education, medical research and the arts.

Since its inception in 2000, the Stony Brook Foundation’s Stars of Stony Brook Gala has raised more than $37 million to support student scholarships and $22 million for academic programs of excellence. Last year’s Gala, honoring Simons Foundation President Marilyn Hawrys Simons,’74,’84, raised $3.2 million for student scholarships.

The Collers will join a distinguished roster of scholars, politicians, celebrities and luminaries who have been honored at the Stars of Stony Brook Gala. Past honorees include Former Vice President Joseph Biden, Nobel Laureate CN Yang; actors Julie Andrews, Alan Alda, Jane Fonda and Ed Harris; Renaissance Technologies founder James Simons; IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond ’76 and award-winning conservationists Patricia Wright and Richard Leakey.

Arriving at the University in 1976, just five years after the School of Medicine was founded, and four years before Stony Brook University Hospital opened, Dr. Barry Coller’s expertise as a hematologist was important in building the reputation of the University’s medical school and hospital. Most importantly, his landmark research at Stony Brook led to the development of the drug abciximab (best known commercially as ReoPro), which has been used to treat millions of patients with cardiovascular disease.

Currently The David Rockefeller Professor of Medicine, head, Allen and Frances Adler Laboratory of Blood and Vascular Biology; Physician-In-Chief of the Rockefeller University Hospital, and Vice President for Medical Affairs at The Rockefeller University, Dr. Barry Coller was selected to be a member of the National Academy of Medicine Committee on Human Genome Editing, becoming a leading voice in the national conversation on the technical and ethical questions surrounding this powerful new technology. Dr. Coller also serves on the Stony Brook Foundation Board of Trustees for more than 20 years.

Dr. Bobbi Coller has been a member of the Advisory Board of the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center since 1998 and has chaired the Board since 2006. This internationally renowned former home and studio of abstract expressionist painters Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner is managed by the Stony Brook Foundation.