Shirley Strum Kenny (August 28, 1934 – September 5, 2026) was an American scholar of the English language and university president. She was the fourth president of Stony Brook University from 1994 until the end of the 2008–2009 academic year; she was the first woman to hold that position. Kenny served as the president of Queens College from 1985 to 1994 and as the interim president of Augusta State University, upon the retirement of its long time president William A. Bloodworth, from July 1 until the position was eliminated on December 31, 2012, as a result of Augusta State University's merger with Georgia Health Sciences University on August 10 of the same year.
Life and career Kenny grew up in Tyler, Texas.Winegarten, Ruthe, and Cathy Schechter. Deep in the Heart: The Lives & Legends of Texas Jews. Austin TX: Eakin Press, 1990. She held a bachelor's degree in English and journalism from the University of Texas-Dallas, an M.A. from the University of Minnesota and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She had taught at the University of Texas, Gallaudet University, The Catholic University of America, the University of Delaware and the University of Maryland. At Maryland, she was successively chair of the Department of English and provost of the College of Arts and Humanities.
Kenny died on September 5, 2026, at the age of 92.
References
External links Shirley Strum Kenny Arts Festival