J. Michael Haynie, vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation and the founder and executive director of the D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) at Syracuse University, has named Ray Toenniessen ’06 to the newly created role of IVMF Deputy Executive Director.
In this new role, Toenniessen, who is currently the vice president for strategic initiatives and innovation, will assume operational responsibility for the IVMF, which serves more than 22,000 servicemembers, veterans and families each year.
Ray Toenniessen
“Ray has been with the IVMF since its inception. For more than a decade, he’s played a central role in almost every facet of the IVMF’s strategy, programming and growth,” Haynie says. “There is no one more committed to our mission or more qualified to drive future growth and innovation than Ray Toenniessen.”
As Deputy Executive Director, Toenniessen will lead the efforts of the IVMF’s more than 100 employees, both on campus and within military communities across the U.S.
“I am honored to assume this new responsibility, and greatly appreciate the trust Vice Chancellor Haynie has in me to lead the IVMF into the future,” Toenniessen says. “As a team we have accomplished a great deal over the last thirteen years, working to enhance the lives of veterans and their families. That said, there is much more to do. I look forward to the work ahead, leveraging our best-in-class programs, services, research, and evaluation initiatives to create positive change for the military-connected community.”
Vice Chancellor Haynie will continue to serve as the IVMF’s Executive Director and Toenniessen will collaborate closely with Maureen Casey, the IVMF’s chief operating officer, and Barb Carson, managing director of programs and services.
Toenniessen graduated from Syracuse University in 2006 with an international relations degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and was commissioned from its ROTC program as a second lieutenant. He served four years on active duty, including a combat deployment to Iraq in 2008 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Upon his transition from active duty in 2010, Toenniessen returned to the University as the first National Program Manager of the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans, expanding the program across the country thanks to a partnership with ten world-class business schools while launching additional small business programs for veterans and their families out of the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.
In 2011, Toenniessen assisted Vice Chancellor Haynie in launching the D’Aniello Institute, initially serving as director of programs and operations. As Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Toenniessen has been responsible for launching numerous innovative programs over the last ten years, including the IVMF’s partnerships with private sector firms, foundations and donors to the IVMF’s programs that have impacted the lives of more than 210,000 service members, veterans and military family members since 2011.
