Shanabrook to Deliver 11th Annual Bunshaft Lecture
ALBANY, N.Y. (March 4, 2025) — University at Albany alum Sue Shanabrook will deliver the College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering’s 11th Annual Bunshaft Lecture on Thursday, March 13, at 11 a.m. in ETEC 149/151. Registration is now available.
Shanabrook, who grew up in Kingston, N.Y., received a bachelor’s degree in computer science and applied mathematics as well as a master’s degree in computer science.
After starting at UAlbany, Shanabrook briefly attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before returning to finish her degrees where she initially started. She pointed to the academic environment and faculty at UAlbany as the best fit for her as a student.
“Professor George Berg had a real impact. He was one of the first professors I had when I added the graduate classes as an undergraduate,” said Shanabrook, who received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 1989. “I really enjoyed the subject he taught (artificial intelligence) and as a professor in his first year, he was very relatable and kind.”
Shanabrook points to two specific moments that brought home the welcoming environment that Berg had created for his students.
In the first case, Shanabrook and another student were the only two undergraduates in Berg’s class. He was prepared to adjust the course accordingly for his younger students as the class prepared for the first test.
“After we finished, Professor Berg told us he had planned on giving us a point boost since we were undergraduates, but it turned out we we had gotten the highest scores in the class,” said Shanabrook. “To me, that demonstrated his thoughtfulness about seeing his students as people.”
One semester later, a scheduling mistake had professor and student thinking their class started at different times.
“I kept arriving to class having already started… so I started coming earlier and earlier and still I would never be on time,” relayed Shanabook. “I finally asked him why class started so early and he said it started at the scheduled time. It turned out I totally had the scheduled time wrong by quite a bit.”
Shanabook then asked Berg why he didn’t say anything about her continually showing up late.
“He said that he assumed that I had somewhere important I had to be,” said Shanabook. “Even though I was pretty far through my education at that point, it was amazing to be treated as such an adult with such trust, so much so that it’s stuck with me to this day.”
Shanabrook would go on to start her career at IBM then moved to Salesforce where she had the opportunity to drive and experience massive growth over the course of 16 years, ultimately serving as the executive vice president of Infrastructure. Over that time, Shanabrook transitioned between product and infrastructure engineering, continuing as an engineer/architect until late in her career when she entered into management.
Today, Shanabrook is the vice president of Resiliency Engineering at Cloudflare, getting back to her roots at a smaller company.
Reflecting on her journey at UAlbany and the role it had in career development, Shanabrook saw her experience as a student as one that empowered her to find her voice.
“It was the first place where I demonstrated and showed myself what I could really do. I also learned some about breaking rules when necessary, such as taking too many courses at one time in my quest to finish my degrees in a shorter period of time,” said Shanabrook. “I went into the workforce feeling empowered and knowing how to advocate for myself.”
Shanabrook will talk about the excitement and challenges of navigating a career in tech followed by a Q&A session.
“Sue Shanabrook demonstrates how a UAlbany education can open doors and how our alumni — whether from the past few years or a few decades ago — have the technical and real world experience needed to succeed after graduation," said CNSE Dean Michele J. Grimm. "I am looking forward to hearing her insights, and I appreciate the opportunity that she will provide to current students to learn more about applying lessons from UAlbany to their professional career.”
The Bunshaft Lecture begins at 11 a.m. and registration is required.
Established through the generosity of Albert Bunshaft ’80 and Caryn Bunshaft ’82, The Bunshaft Endowment in the College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering provides support for this lecture, which is designed to provide information to the student community about a broad range of topics related to careers in computing and engineering sciences.