SUNY Old Westbury Staff, Faculty Earn Top Honors

The Chancellor of the State University of New York each year presents honors to members of the system's staff and faculty to acknowledge consistently superior professional achievement and to encourage the ongoing pursuit of excellence. For the 2024-2025 academic year, SUNY Old Westbury had two members of its community recognized.

Laura Gallagher, administrative assistant in the School of Business, secured the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in the Classified Service while Lorenz Neuwirth, professor of psychology, has earned the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service.

"Our faculty and staff are the core of what makes SUNY Old Westbury such an extraordinary institution," said SUNY Old Westbury President Timothy Sams. "As colleagues, these honorees represent well the contribution we each make, and must continue to make, to enable our students and our University to excel."

Gallagher and Neuwirth were presented their awards during the campus' 2025 Commencement Ceremony.

Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service

The SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service recognizes the consistently superior service contributions of full-time teaching faculty. This service must be sustained over multiple years and may occur in a variety of venues.

As described by his colleagues in nominating him for the honor, Neuwirth’s service "has been extraordinary and exemplary." The breadth of that service is wide and has been conducted in connection with, and often including chairmanship of, such groups as the Committee for Promoting, Recruitment, Opportunity, Diversity, Inclusion and Growth (“PRODIG”), the Faculty University Awards Committee, the Budget Planning Committee, and, during the pandemic, the COVID-19 and Environmental Safety Committee. Added to that is his review of neuroscience grants, evaluation of neuroscience educational programs, and service on committees for national organizations such as the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience.

Chancellor's Award for Classified Service

The SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in the Classified Service recognizes superior performance and extraordinary achievement by employees in the Classified Service who demonstrate the University’s commitment to providing superior service to its students and the community at large.

Gallagher is recognized across campus as an invaluable member of our university community, consistently exceeding expectations in her support of faculty, students, and external stakeholders. Having in April 2025 celebrated her 32nd anniversary on campus, she has amassed a wide array of contributions to Old Westbury beyond her day-to-day responsibilities. Most recently, she participated in the Strategic Planning process via the Campus Operations and Efficiencies Subcommittee and is a leader in the campus' annual preparations for and execution of Commencement.