When Hadwen C. Fuller II crossed the stage at the Graduate Convocation this spring, the loudest cheers didn’t come from his wife and three sons.

They came from a group of classmates young enough to be his grandchildren.

A few months earlier, Fuller had walked into a weeklong January course in Washington, D.C., carrying a brand-new laptop he’d only recently learned how to use, a healthy dose of skepticism about artificial intelligence and unfinished business that dated back to the Nixon administration.

The three credits earned from that course—Public Management of Technology Development—finally allowed Fuller to complete the M.P.A. degree he had started at the Maxwell School more than 50 years ago.

“I’ve always liked to finish what I start,” Fuller says.

That persistence has defined much of his life.

He grew up in the Oswego County town of Parish, New York, population 411. His grandfather, despite never graduating from high school, climbed from local politics to the New York State Assembly and, eventually, Congress. Fuller absorbed that example and arrived at Syracuse University thinking seriously about a future in government.

After earning a political science degree from Maxwell in 1970, Fuller enrolled in the . In his second year, he added a public administration degree at Maxwell because it matched his interest in leadership and public service.

He finished law school in 1973. The M.P.A. stalled six credits short.

For many people, that unfinished degree would have faded into ancient history. Fuller carried it around like a pebble in his shoe.

“It just kind of gnawed at me that I never completed it,” he says.

Over the next five decades, Fuller built a varied and successful professional career. Shortly after law school, he served as justice of the peace in Parish, processing thousands of cases after state police flooded the area with traffic enforcement teams. He worked in his family’s Sunoco gasoline distributorship, eventually selling the business during the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics while helping coordinate corporate fundraising tied to the Games. Most of his professional life has been spent in the aviation fuel industry, launching and running companies of his own.

Along the way, he took another swipe at the Maxwell degree. In 1996, he petitioned to re-enroll and completed a three-credit course on management of the U.S. Forestry Service.

“I planned to enroll in another class to finish it up,” Fuller says. “It just never happened.”

A Chance Encounter

Until a dinner conversation changed everything.

Last fall, Fuller attended an event hosted by the Onondaga Historical Association, where he serves on the board. One of the guests was , newly arrived at Maxwell as professor of practice in public administration and international affairs and the Phanstiel Chair in Leadership.

At some point during the evening, Fuller casually mentioned he was “almost” a Maxwell alumnus. Parmeter quickly learned Fuller was only one course away from finishing the degree he had started in the early 1970s. By coincidence, Parmeter himself was teaching a one-week, three-credit course in Washington that January.

“Would you like to finish your degree?” Parmeter asked.

Fuller thought he was joking.

He wasn’t.

Soon, Assistant Dean of Online Programs was digging through decades-old records and untangling the academic equivalent of an archaeological dig. Expired credits needed reinstating. Approvals had to move through faculty leadership, the Graduate School and the registrar. Fuller had to be transferred into the executive M.P.A. program.

And then there was the technology.

“From soup to nuts, he needed help with everything,” Bartkowiak says with a laugh. “But he was a very good sport about it.”

Despite decades of business success, Fuller had largely managed to avoid becoming computer savvy. Bartkowiak convinced him he needed a laptop.

After a trip to Best Buy, Fuller launched into what amounted to a crash course in modern technology, teaching himself how to use the computer while diving headfirst into AI.

By January, he arrived in Washington equal parts prepared and panicked.

Back in the Classroom

His classmates included M.P.A. students, international relations students, law students and U.S. State Department fellows. Nearly all of them were decades younger. Fuller worried he would slow down group work or embarrass himself trying to keep up.

Instead, he became an integral member of the class.

Lauren Grosso G’26 initially thought Fuller was a guest speaker before realizing he was a fellow student. “I couldn’t believe that someone with that level of experience still wanted to be in a classroom, still wanting to learn,” she says. “That shifted something for me, not just how I saw Had, but how I see things in general. No matter how much experience you have or how much you know, there’s always more to learn.”

The course itself focused on public policy scenarios set in 2030, challenging students to use AI tools to solve complex problems while also evaluating the technology’s weaknesses and risks. For Fuller, it became a revelation.

“It’s like you have the smartest person in the world sitting next to you,” he says of AI. “They don’t get tired. They’re up all night. And you can ask them dumb questions because they don’t care.”

Still, Fuller wasn’t simply absorbing lessons. He was teaching them too.

For reporters looking for experts to offer insight on tariffs, please see comments from Syracuse University faculty who are available to speak with media. To arrange interviews, contact Ellen James Mbuqe, executive director of media relations, ejmbuqe@syr.edu.

Tariffs and the Auto Industry

is Dean of the College of Law at Syracuse University and began his career in the Office of the General Counsel at Ford Motor Company in the International Trade and Transactions practice group. His practice focused on ��U.S. law for foreign affiliates and subsidiaries, among other topics. Later he served as Ford’s Director for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Government Affairs.

• “The global automotive industry works best in free markets, free of market distortions such as tariff and non-tariff barriers. Free markets have led to greater consumer choice and lower prices. The industry requires long lead times to adjust to changes in tariff policy. An immediate 25% tariff on automotive parts and finished vehicles from Canada and Mexico will introduce a great deal of uncertainty into the supply chain, and ultimately will lead to higher vehicle prices until the market can adjust,” said Lau.

History of Tariffs

, professor of history in the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, is the author of��. The book gives a history lesson of the tariffs used by American governments from the 18^th century until early 20^th century. Early in American history, Congress instituted high tariffs on most imports due to distrust of foreign goods.��But due to demand for things like silk, tobacco, and sugar, a brisk illicit traffic developed to maneuver around those laws. Cohen said:��

• “The US has long used tariffs to collect revenue, aid manufacturing, and exert power.�� But I can’t think of a trade war initiated so randomly in a time of peace and prosperity” said Cohen.
• “Early 20^th Americans replaced tariffs with income taxes because the former generated insufficient revenue to pay for a modern military,” said Cohen. “Reformers also viewed the tariff as a source of corruption, as businesses bribed Congressmen to support taxes giving them monopolies.��Tariffs led to widespread smuggling, which even an extensive network of customhouses could not staunch. Writing a tariff bill became so complicated that Congress gave the president wide discretion to negotiate rates.�� Now, we’re seeing the consequences, as one man can start a trade war.”

��Economic Impact and Tariffs

, assistant professor at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, is an expert in international trade, tariffs, and supply chains. He’s been interviewed by several news outlets about tariffs including a recent interview with Newsweek, “.”

From the article:

• “Ryan Monarch, a professor of economics at Syracuse University, told��Newsweek��prices will be driven up not only by the tariffs themselves, but also the increased costs with complying with customs rules.
• There will be added costs both from sellers, who will need to prepare paperwork and calculate the value of each package as well as U.S. customs workers who will be tasked with enforcing the new policy, he said.
• ‘Part of the reason the exemption exists in the first place is that it didn’t seem worth it to try to do all of the work to examine all of these packages and imported things that are of such low value,’ he said.
• In total, a 25 to 30 percent price increase would not be ‘outlandlish,’ Monarch said. It’s difficult to predict the full impact, but companies are unlikely to eat the costs of these fees, he added.
• ‘We should expect that those prices are going to go directly onto American buyers. Research has shown that Chinese suppliers pass on those prices completely.’”

Tariffs and the Supply Chain

is a Professor of Practice – Supply Chain Management and Director of Executive Education at the Whitman School of Management. He is a scholar when it comes to providing insight about how economic policies will impact the national and global supply chains. He’s been interviewed by many outlets on tariffs specifically, including Buffalo’s and the .

Here’s what he’s highlighted:

• The tariff on Chinese goods could impact almost every U.S. industry according to supply chain expert Patrick Penfield.
• “We import a lot of base ingredients from China that’s used in various industries. So you’re talking pharmaceutical, the toy industry, electronics. So almost every industry in the United States would be impacted.”

US-Mexico Relations

, associate professor of history at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, is an expert on Mexico and United States relations. She can discuss trade and tariffs between the US and Mexico, immigration, security and fentanyl.

McCormick, who is the Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations at Syracuse University, was interviewed by Insight Crime for the article “.”

• “Tariffs will hurt the Mexican economy, which will further weaken the Mexican system and the rule of law, and that’s going to make Mexico much more vulnerable to further incursions from organized crime,” McCormick told InSight Crime.
• “I don’t see any real concerted, long-term improvements that would come out of this to tackle issues of security and organized crime in Mexico,” McCormick told InSight Crime.

Syracuse University thought leaders, events and research news were showcased in the following news outlets this week:

• , assistant professor of management at the Whitman School, was quoted in a article about 7,000 Stellantis factory workers joining the UAW strike.
  
• , media professor at the Newhouse School, spoke with about female celebrities and the questionable future success of their memoirs, and with about the Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie.
• , adjunct professor from Falk College, shared his expertise with The Zoe Report for the story ““

• , a history professor at the Maxwell School, spoke with Al Jazeera for the story “.”

• , a professor in the political science department at Maxwell, was quoted in a article about the beauty of Africa.

• , Crandall Melvin Professor of Law at the College of Law, is in the IPWatchDog story “.”
• , professor of communications at the Newhouse School, was referenced in an piece about missing white woman syndrome.

• , assistant professor in the College of Arts & Sciences, was interviewed on the Academic Minute on the topic “.”
• , a sports management professor at Falk College, was quoted in the Spectrum News article “.”
• and , both professors at Falk College, were guest columnists in a article about gender affirming care saving the lives of transgender people.

• associate professor at the Maxwell School, was quoted Foreign Policy article��“” and The New York Times article “.”

• , Professor Emeritus at the Maxwell School, was featured in The Economist article “.”
• , the vice president of research, was interviewed for the Spectrum News story “.”