Carol and Lyle Gomes Establish Endowed Scholarship for Student-Athletes

Stony Brook administrators have donated nearly $70,000 to Stony Brook University

Carol and Lyle Gomes

She’s the chief operating officer at Stony Brook University Hospital and president of the university’s alumni association. He’s the university’s vice president for finance and chief budget officer.

Together, Carol and Lyle Gomes are setting an example of giving back to an institution they say has given so much to them.

“Lyle and I have been so fortunate to have had the opportunity to grow professionally at Stony Brook,” said Carol Gomes ’90 and ’97, who joined the university as a lab technologist in 1986, about eight months after her husband came on board as a senior financial analyst.

“We view so many of our colleagues here as a second family. Stony Brook has long been a home away from home for both of us,” she added.

The Mount Sinai couple has donated nearly $70,000 to Stony Brook, including a recent $30,000 gift to establish the Carol and Lyle Gomes Endowed Scholarship for student-athletes. To qualify for the scholarship, a students must be an athlete participating in the university’s intercollegiate athletics program and be enrolled in an undergraduate program at the School of Nursing, School of Social Welfare, or School of Health Technology and Management.

“We wanted to bridge the East Campus and the West Campus with this scholarship,” Carol Gomes said. “It will benefit a student who is involved on both campuses.”

Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, said “Carol and Lyle Gomes are truly a Stony Brook couple.”

“They have dedicated their careers – each spanning nearly three decades – toward helping our institution emerge as one of the nation’s top research universities,” he added. “Their continued generosity, in creating this student-athlete scholarship, illustrates their deep commitment to excellence at Stony Brook.”

Considering the caliber of the Stony Brook student-athlete – 228 earned a 3.0 GPA or higher during the 2013-14 academic years – the Gomeses understand they are making a wise investment.

“Stony Brook’s athletics program provides young men and women with unique learning opportunities, helping athletes develop positive character and leadership qualities,” Carol Gomes said. “These characteristics propel them to become successful students in the health sciences.”

In her role as president of the Stony Brook University Alumni Association, Carol Gomes said she has witnessed the results of generous giving from many fellow alums.

“We wanted to pay that generosity forward by rewarding talented and potentially successful students who have their whole lives ahead of them,” Carol Gomes said. “Both of us were the first in our families to graduate from college.

“It is important for students who don’t have the financial means to stay in school to know that there are people willing to help support them through college,” she added.

“Carol and Lyle Gomes are special people. While working tirelessly toward putting Stony Brook on the map as a world-class institution, they continually earn the respect and admiration of their colleagues,” said Kenneth Kaushansky, MD, Stony Brook University School of Medicine Dean and Senior Vice President for Health Sciences. “Establishing a student-athlete scholarship that links our east and west campuses is another example of their leadership.”

Barbara Chernow, Senior Vice President for Administration at Stony Brook, said the Gomes’ donation is inspirational.

“Hard work and dedication have enabled Lyle and Carol to literally rise through the ranks at Stony Brook,” she said. “Because of their philanthropy, a hard-working and dedicated student-athlete will have the opportunity to excel in the classroom and on the field.”

— Brian Harmon