6. Shirley Strum Kenny

The head of LI’s biggest institution of higher learning and second largest employer, Kenny has a proven ability to advance the school academically and financially. Student test scores are up. Enrollment is up. With $8 million in royalties last year from its scientific discoveries, Stony Brook earned more than Harvard. The endowment, now worth more than $34 million, is one of the fastest growing in the nation, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and Kenny just launched the school’s first major capital campaign.