‘Buffalo State is a special place’: Incoming President Burris following presidential appointment
The State University of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees voted to name Jennifer L. Burris, Ph.D., as the next president of Buffalo State University during the afternoon session of the SUNY Board of Trustees meeting on April 28. Her appointment is effective July 1, 2026.
Incoming President Burris, who currently serves as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Lenoir-Rhyne University, addressed attendees during the afternoon session of the SUNY Board of Trustees meeting on April 28.
Following is the full text of Incoming President Burris’ speech:
Chancellor King, Chairman Tisch, members of the SUNY Board of Trustees, members of the Buffalo State University Council, including Chair Dobmeier, and the entire Buffalo State community:
Thank you. I am truly honored to be selected as the eleventh president of SUNY Buffalo State University.
Buffalo State is a special place. It is SUNY’s only urban‑engaged campus, with a mission to empower students to succeed and to inspire a lifelong passion for learning. Access, opportunity, and community engagement are not aspirations at Buffalo State, they are lived values. This mission resonates with me personally, because it is the work I have spent my entire career doing.
I am inspired by the faculty and staff who deliver on that mission every day, and by the students whose ambition and resilience are the heart of this campus. I look forward to listening, to learning, and to partnering with the campus community as we protect and expand Buffalo State’s distinctive mission, strengthen our shared purpose, and elevate this institution as a model of public higher education in service to its city and region.
To Chancellor King and to this Board: thank you for your leadership and your inspired vision for higher education in New York. Student success; research and scholarship; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and economic development and upward mobility — your four pillars are the foundation that will ensure students across SUNY thrive. I look forward to partnering with each of you in that work.
Thank you also to Zulaika Rodriguez and the entire SUNY search team, and to the Buffalo State Search Committee, for the care and rigor you brought to this process.
On a more personal note — I want to thank my mother, my father and my step‑mother, and my siblings, who taught me the values I bring to this work and have supported me on every step of the way. And I want to thank my amazing partner, Dr. Justin Allen, of more than twenty years, whose steady support has made everything possible — and who, I will add, has family roots right here in Buffalo, so this homecoming means more to us than I can say.
From the first‑generation freshman moving into their residence hall, to the graduate student crossing the stage at commencement — students are the reason we are all here today. My commitment to this Board, to this campus, and to the city and region we serve is that Buffalo State students will be at the heart of every decision I make as president. Thank you for your trust. I can’t wait to get started.
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Photo by Nolan Metcalf.
