David M. Van Slyke

David M. Van Slyke, Ph.D., is dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, the Louis A. Bantle Chair in Business-Government Policy, and co-directs the school’s National Security Studies program. Prior to becoming dean on July 1, 2016, Van Slyke was associate dean and chair of Maxwell’s Public Administration and International Affairs Department. He is a tenured, full professor at the Maxwell School and a two-time recipient of the Birkhead-Burkhead Award and Professorship for Teaching Excellence.

Van Slyke is a leading international expert on public-private partnerships, public-sector contracting and contract management, and policy implementation. He was a member of the Defense Business Board (2020, 2021-2025), and a former director (2016- 2021) and fellow (2010-present) of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA). Van Slyke has participated in several government study groups focused on business transformation, executive analytics and government-business partnerships in the national and homeland security space. He is a former co-editor of the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory and the International Journal of Commerce and Contracting. He is actively engaged in the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration; the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs; the Volcker Alliance; the Center for Public Policy Advisory Council at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore; the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Comptroller General’s Educator Advisory Panel; and serves on the board of directors for the Commerce and Contract Management Institute. He also sits on the editorial boards of several top-ranked public affairs and nonprofit management journals.

Van Slyke has provided expert guidance to the Office of Management and Budget, Government Accountability Office, U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Defense, World Bank and a range of philanthropic foundations. As part of his executive education teaching and research, he has worked extensively with senior leaders in government, nonprofit and business organizations in China, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, the Netherlands, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan. He has also worked with the Mandela Washington Fellowship Young African Leaders Initiative and the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative. He has been interviewed on and his work cited by CNN, Washington Post, Bloomberg Tax, National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, American Public Media’s MarketPlace, CBS News, U.S. News & World Report, Governing, the Capital Pressroom, Washington Times, Government Executive, InsideDefense, Xinhua Global Times in China, Federal Computer Week, Washington Technology, Defense Industry Daily, Federal News Radio, and GovLoop.

Van Slyke’s book, Complex Contracting: Government Purchasing in the Wake of the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater Program (Cambridge University Press, 2013), received the American Society for Public Administration’s Section on Research Best Book Award in 2014 and honorable mention for the Academy of Management’s Public and Nonprofit Section Best Book Award in 2016. He received the 2015 Distinguished Alumnus in Public Administration and Policy Award from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany, and the 2007 Best Article Award published in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory.

Van Slyke earned a Ph.D. in public administration and policy from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Prior to becoming an academic, he served in project management and team leadership roles in the private, public and nonprofit sectors.