William J. Sullivan joined the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University as Director of Executive Education in 1990.  Executive Education offers graduate level education opportunities leading to a Master of Arts (MA) degree in public administration, customized training courses for government and non-profit professionals and connects the Maxwell School with nations around the world through public administration development projects and initiatives. 

Under Bill’s leadership, Executive Education has grown dramatically in scope and stature and assumed a more global focus.  Student enrollments particularly from other nations in the MA degree program have steadily increased making it one of the most diverse at Syracuse University.  Successful training and development initiatives have been implemented in the United States and other nations. In 1993, Bill established a partnership with the China National School of Administration (CNSA) to assist this central government agency to organize public sector training. The relationship led to the founding of institutional ties with selected Chinese universities to support the adoption of the field of public administration in China and inspired the creation of similar projects with institutions in Vietnam (1994), Russia (1999), and India (2002).   In 1996, Executive Education was awarded the largest government grant ever received by Syracuse University to train senior military and civilian leaders from the Department of Defense (DOD).  In 2001, DOD renewed the National Security Studies contract for another five years. Training has been conducted for other federal and state government agencies including the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Transportation, EPA, the U.S. Patent and Trade Office, the Social Security Administration and the New York State Governor’s Office of Employee Relations, the New York State Department of Health and the New York State Department of Education.

Before the Maxwell School, Bill was the Associate Director of the New York State Governor’s Office of Employee Relations and an adjunct professor of public management at Rockefeller College of the State University of New York at Albany.  Previously, he served as Director of the New York State Labor/Management Committees and created and implemented “Managing New York State,” a comprehensive executive development program, which received the 1984 Human Resource Development Award for Excellence from the American Society for Training and Development. 

In April 1999, Bill received the Chancellor’s Citation from Syracuse University for his leadership of Executive Education and implementation of programs that benefited the Maxwell School and Syracuse University. 

In October 1999, Bill was awarded The Friendship Award by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), the highest form of recognition given by the Chinese government to foreign experts for his work in executive education, training and development. 

In April 2001, Bill was named Educator of the Year by the National Forum of Black Public Administrators (NFBPA) for training and development contributions made to NFBPA over ten years. 

Bill is a graduate of Holy Cross College and holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University and a Master of Arts degree in political science from Boston College.

Executive Education Programs
Maxwell School of Syracuse University
219 Maxwell Hall
Syracuse, NY 13244
P: 315 443 3759
F: 315 443 5330
email: wjsulliv@maxwell.syr.edu