How Syracuse University’s next chancellor made helping vets a $300M pillar of the school
Nick Ripplinger has never set foot on the Syracuse University campus, but he attributes much of his success to the university’s next chancellor, Mike Haynie.
Ripplinger is among the thousands of military veterans helped by the D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families that Haynie founded in 2011 to train veterans for business careers.
Of all that Haynie has accomplished in his 20 years at Syracuse, the shining star is the D’Aniello Institute, or IVMF. It grew out of a small class of 17 veterans in 2007 to become a national institute housed in a gleaming new $63 million building on campus. The institute has become a pillar of the university, financially and academically, and one of the things Syracuse is known for nationally.
Since 2007, the IVMF and its programs have attracted roughly $300 million in external funding, including more than $160 million in sponsored research. That makes the institute one of the largest magnets for funding on campus.
Ripplinger, 39, met Haynie at one of two institute training programs he went through in 2017 as he was starting his business, Battle Sight Technologies in Dayton, Ohio. The multimillion-dollar company makes products for use in battle or search and rescue operations (motto: Simpler. Safer. More Lethal).
Ripplinger said he and Haynie usually reconnect over coffee at the institute’s annual training conference in Dallas, which is going on this week. Haynie had to miss it this year for the chancellor announcement.
“He’s always just kind of been a resource and a mentor and has done everything he can to provide those resources to veteran entrepreneurs,’’ Ripplinger said.
As he prepares to take the top campus job in July, J. Michael Haynie Jr. – he insists on Mike – brings a track record of transformation. He has already reshaped the university’s campus and its reputation around the nation.
He has brought in hundreds of millions of dollars to build up the university’s role as a school for veterans and led efforts to revitalize the business school. All the while, he served as Chancellor Kent Syverud’s right hand to deal with challenges like the Covid pandemic.
Most new chancellors are chosen from outside the university. But Haynie’s 20-year record since he arrived at campus as an assistant professor made it easy for him to overcome that bias, said Grant Reeher, a political science professor at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
“When faculty were sitting around and administrators were sitting around, kind of spit-balling who the next chancellor might be, he was always the first one on just about everybody’s list,” Reeher said.
The soul of an entrepreneur
Haynie, 56, currently wears many hats. He is vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation. He is executive dean of the Whitman School of Management and a professor of entrepreneurship. He is executive director of the IVMF.
He wakes up most days at 4:30 a.m. and leaves his home in Cazenovia by 6 a.m. to drive to campus. Despite his many obligations, Haynie likes to take time to chat with students, he said, often during lunch at a dining hall.
On Monday, after the board of trustees voted him in as chancellor, Haynie walked across Waverly Avenue to have lunch at a table of kids in the Schine Student Center. He ordered from Panda Express.
Colleagues describe Haynie as competitive and intense, but also thoughtful and friendly. Maureen Casey, who recently retired after 10 years as chief operating officer at the IVMF, said Haynie was “empowering” for employees.
“Mike was always able to set a vision for us and then empower us to execute,” Casey said. “And he was also always there to provide the guidance that we need.”
Misty Fox, director of entrepreneurship and small business at the IVMF, said Haynie is careful to have his employees focus on what they are good at, their “first best use.”
“The thing about Mike is he surrounds himself with very, very smart people. And then he likes to kind of set a direction and trust smart people to do what they need to do,” she said.
Although he has never launched a private business, Haynie has the soul of an entrepreneur.
A few months ago, Haynie spearheaded creation of a new initiative at the Whitman School, the nation’s first academic Center for the Creator Economy. A joint venture with the Newhouse journalism school, the center will be a home for research and education on the online economic world dominated by influencers, podcasters and streamers.
In an interview, Haynie said that kind of innovation is how Syracuse will face the challenges ahead stemming from a shrinking number of college-age students, the loss of international students and other financial disruptions.
“As those kinds of ideas for innovation surface, they’re not rebuffed here. They are embraced here. And I think that that really is our opportunity moving forward. That’s how we’re going to navigate the disruption,’’ he said.
Haynie took over as the Whitman School’s executive dean in 2023. Just over two years later, the school announced a five-year plan to be ranked a Top 25 undergraduate business program by 2030. The school’s website lists its current national ranking – 39 – plus its job placement rate and the average salary of recent graduates.
“He’s super competitive,” said John Torrens, department chair of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises. “He doesn’t just want to show up to work every day and do his thing. He wants to win. He wants to be part of an organization that excels. Just the vibe and energy at Whitman since he’s been the executive dean has been very different.”
Will Lewandowski, a junior majoring in entrepreneurship at the Whitman school, said Haynie connects easily with students. Last year, Haynie took Lewandowski and his friend Evan Bezdek fly fishing.
“We were in Whitman and sat down at a table with Chancellor Haynie,” Lewandowski recalled. “He asked us, you know, ‘What do you guys like to do for fun?’ And me and Evan always kind of like to go fishing.”
The two students were caught off guard when Haynie suggested the three of them go fly fishing, Lewandowski said. But eventually they arranged a trip to the Salmon River. Bezdek caught a large steelhead trout, and Lewandowski netted it.
“It wasn’t treated like, you know, ‘I’m your superior.’ It’s like all of us like fly fishing, let’s go and have a good time. And it was,” he said.
‘Pretend I’m a fourth-grader’
Haynie said he’s not starting the chancellor’s job with a specific agenda. He will take over in July, following the departure of Kent Syverud. Until then, Haynie said he will meet with as many people on campus as possible to gather feedback.
“I think it’s important before I start espousing priorities that I take some time … to hear other voices before establishing what strategic priorities I may propose,
