5 Notable Science & Technology Stars Who Attended SUNY Colleges

This list includes three astronauts and the inventor of the Mac computer. Pretty impressive.

There are 64 unique State University of New York campuses across the Empire State. The SUNY college system has many strong courses of study. But its curricula in science and technology has produced some major achievers whose work is world-renowned. Here are a few of the biggest science and technology stars to emerge from the SUNY system:

Ellen Baker. The astronaut and medical doctor, who did her undergraduate studies in geology at SUNY Buffalo, flew three missions and logged a total of 28 days in space.

Eileen Collins. The astronaut from Elmira started her collegiate career in the SUNY system at Corning Community College. She flew four NASA missions as a test pilot and logged 38 days in space.

Scott Kelly. The astronaut studied at SUNY Maritime and logged a total of 520 days in space, including one year-long mission aboard the International Space Station.

Richard Gelfond. The investment banker has been the lone CEO of the IMAX Corporation since 2009 and studied at SUNY Stony Brook

Jef Raskin. The computer expert studied at SUNY Stony Brook and went on to conceive and start the Macintosh project at Apple in the late 70s.

This is the second in our series about notable SUNY alumni. The first covered the top show biz stars who attended SUNY schools.