Daniel B. O’Connor retired after a 28-year federal career, including 20 years as a Foreign Service officer. During his Foreign Service career, he served in a wide variety of domestic and international posts. His final assignment was as special assistant in the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations.

O’Connor entered the Foreign Service in 2001 as a political cone officer. He began his diplomatic career as desk officer for Jamaica and The Bahamas before serving as vice consul at the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from 2004–06. He then served as political/economic chief and public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Nassau, The Bahamas, from 2006–08.

From August 2008 to July 2011, O’Connor served in Washington, D.C., in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, focusing on multilateral issues and asylum policy. He returned overseas as deputy political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Panama, where he was responsible for political-security affairs from July 2011 to July 2014. He moved back to Washington, D.C., in 2014 and worked in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, serving as the country officer for Central Asian issues until August 2017.

From 2017 to 2018, O’Connor worked as a Pearson Fellow in the office of U.S. Sen. Cory A. Booker of New Jersey. As part of the senator’s foreign policy and defense team, he worked on a wide range of issues, including immigration reform, Latin American human rights and the Nuclear Posture Review. From 2018 to 2021, O’Connor served as an intelligence analyst in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, covering Colombia and Ecuador.

Before joining the Foreign Service, O’Connor was a Presidential Management Intern at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from 1994–96 and at the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1996–2001.

O’Connor earned a doctorate from American University in 1997 and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware in 1988. Highlights of his time at UD include Winter Session 1987 in Geneva, Switzerland, and working with James Oliver and Mark Miller on his senior thesis.

Nate Herman became executive vice president in 2025, following more than 20 years at  American Apparel & Footwear Association. (AAFA) and most recently serving as senior vice president of policy. In addition to helping guide the association’s strategic plan, Herman oversees AAFA’s policy department, managing lobbying, policy and regulatory affairs activities.

Herman leads AAFA’s corporate social responsibility program, formulating and implementing policy and representing AAFA and the industry on corporate social responsibility issues before governments, nongovernmental organizations and other key stakeholders. He also develops apparel and footwear industry data and statistics as AAFA’s resident economist.

Before joining AAFA, Herman worked for six years at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, where he assisted U.S. firms entering the global market. He spent his final two years there as the Commerce Department’s industry analyst for the footwear and travel goods industries.

Herman earned a master of public and international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh in 1994 and a bachelor of arts in international relations and economics from the University of Delaware in 1992.

Herman served as Chair of the Political Science and International Relations Advisory Board from 2022 to 2026

In March 2026, J. Michael Haynie was selected by Syracuse University's Board of Trustees to serve as the institution's 13th chancellor and president. Chancellor-Elect Haynie brings to the role more than a decade of distinguished senior leadership at Syracuse University, a record of transformative scholarship and a lifelong commitment to public service.

Haynie currently serves as vice chancellor for strategic initiatives & innovation and executive dean of the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. He is also the founder and executive director of the D'Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families, the nation's first interdisciplinary academic institute chartered to advance the policy, economic and wellness concerns of America's veterans and military-connected families. In 2018, he was named a university professor — the most senior academic rank conferred upon faculty at Syracuse University.

A nationally recognized scholar in entrepreneurship, innovation and strategy, Haynie has served in advisory roles for the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the White House. In 2021, he received Syracuse University's highest honor, the Chancellor's Medal. His work has been recognized by Time magazine, CBS News' 60 Minutes and the HillVets100, among others.

Haynie holds a Ph.D. in entrepreneurship and business strategy from the University of Colorado Boulder, an M.B.A. from the University of Oregon and an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Delaware. Before his academic career, he served for 14 years as a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force.

I graduated in May 2011 from the University of Delaware and I currently work as a Human Rights Officer in Timbuktu within the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali. I joined the UN in May 2014 after having worked with human rights NGOs in Tunisia. As a Human Rights Officer working in the field, I tackle various issues pertaining to international human rights and humanitarian law such as detention, conflict-related sexual violence, transitional justice, fight against impunity, and protection of civilians.

My responsibilities include monitoring of the human rights situation in the region of Timbuktu through investigations, special fact-finding missions and visits to detention centers. Another interesting part of my day-to-day work is the continuous engagement with leaders of different rebel groups operating in the area to recall their obligations under international law. Besides, I am also responsible for drafting briefing notes, reports on pressing human rights issues, organizing and delivering outreach activities including human rights trainings to various audiences and developing advocacy materials for use in engagement with donors, partners and other stakeholders. As a matter of fact, we succeeded to put in place 5 human rights clubs for high school students and we are currently rehabilitating a one-stop center for women victims of sexual and gender-based violence.  

There is no doubt that I benefited greatly from my Master’s degree within the Political Science and International Relations Department of the University of Delaware. Indeed, the knowledge and experience I have acquired throughout the program has made me familiar with the various issues and challenges faced in field work as well as the political environment in which peacekeeping missions operate. It has also helped me develop my analytical and critical thinking skills which are tremendously important in field work.  

Jonathan Green is the Special Assistant for the United States Senate Armed Services Committee minority, under the leadership of Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island. He serves as the primary aide to the minority staff director and assists senior staff in policy research and writing. In addition, he acts as a primary point of contact for liaisons with the Services, federal agencies and departments, and industry. Jon is a Master of Public Policy candidate and former graduate assistant at George Mason University. 

Prior to joining the Senate, Jon spent several years at the Department of Defense as a contracted analyst supporting the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics in the Office of the Secretary of Defense Studies and Federally Funded Research and Development Center Management. He provided programmatic support and management to the Department's more than $2 billion-annual research relationship with prominent private industry think tanks and development centers.

Upon graduating from UD with a major in International Relations and minor in Islamic Studies with Arabic, Jon held internships in Boston and Washington, D.C. with Senator John Kerry's office and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The majority of his work focused on immigration crises resolution for U.S. citizens, policy development for the Syrian civil war, and research supporting the proposed approval of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. At the completion of his internships, Jon served as a Regional Director for a battleground Virginia congressional campaign and led his office to more than 40,000 voter contacts.

During his undergraduate years at UD, Jon specialized in the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy. He took advantage of UD’s expansive study abroad program to study in seven countries including Ghana, Egypt and Nepal. The combination of in-depth classroom education and experience operating in-country provided Jon with a unique perspective of on-the-ground realities that exist in some of the world's most complicated geopolitical regions. The opportunities afforded to him by UD and the mentorship of faculty like Dr. Muqtedar Khan empowered Jon to continue to pursue his passion for international affairs in public service.

Matthew Mehrazar, AS, graduated from the University of Delaware a year early, in 2014, with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Initially looking for a “day job” while considering graduate school, Mehrazar built a career in technology, beginning in sales at SevOne, a Delaware startup now part of IBM. After a stint at JPMorgan Chase, he rejoined the technology sector as a consultant with Veeva Systems, a cloud software company.

Mehrazar recently joined Appian, a software and technology services company. As a technical delivery manager, he consults with enterprise customers to understand their technical needs, aligns Appian’s customer success services and provides oversight on technical implementations of Appian’s low-code business process management platform.

Mehrazar is passionate about career development and mentoring. For the past three years, he has mentored UD students through the Winter Job Shadow Program and served as a panelist for a 2021 career event hosted by the Department of Political Science and International Relations.

Mehrazar lives in New York City with his wife and Pomeranian and enjoys soccer, live comedy and cycling.

Benga Orefuwa, a 2017 graduate of the University of Delaware with a B.A. in political science, has built his career around advocacy, leadership, and public service. His professional journey began in 2018 in labor relations, where he quickly developed a strong foundation in interpreting union contracts, managing grievances, and supporting workplace investigations. This early experience shaped his understanding of employee rights and sparked a deeper interest in systems that balance policy, fairness, and human impact.

Over the years, Benga expanded his expertise across the full employee lifecycle, transitioning into benefits administration and later advancing through multiple human resources roles supporting state agencies. Today, he serves as State Human Resource Administrator with the State of Delaware, where he leads leave administration efforts for approximately 9,000 employees across seven agencies. In this leadership role, he oversees leave management for  FMLA, Donated Leave, Workers’ Compensation, Short-Term Disability, and Paid Family and Caregiver Leave. His approach is rooted in the belief that employees navigating leave are often at their most vulnerable and deserve individualized care, advocacy, and respect.

Benga has also played a key role in shaping statewide initiatives, including the development of the COVID-19 leave tracking system used across Delaware during the pandemic and the creation of a supplementation worksheet for Paid Caregiver and Qualified Exigency Leave. As an active member of the state’s paid caregiver workgroup, he contributes to policy discussions and implementation strategies that affect thousands of public employees.

Committed to continuous improvement and organizational change, Benga earned his Prosci® Certified Change Practitioner credential in 2025 and completed a Project Management certificate through the University of Delaware as part of the State of Delaware’s Continued Improvement Program, from which he graduated in Spring 2025. These experiences have strengthened his ability to lead large-scale initiatives, manage change effectively, and drive operational excellence across agencies.

During his time at the University, Benga developed the confidence to use his voice and advocate for others, skills that continue to define his professional identity. He remains actively engaged with the university by mentoring students through job shadowing opportunities and introducing them to careers in human resources and public service.

Outside of work, Benga serves as a certified U.S. Soccer Federation referee and a Delaware Soccer Officials Association official, demonstrating his commitment to leadership and fairness both on and off the field. Looking ahead, Benga plans to pursue a legal education, with the goal of deepening his impact at the intersection of employment law, public policy, and advocacy. His career reflects a consistent dedication to ensuring that systems work not just efficiently, but equitably for every individual they serve.

Jonathan Hezel is a project manager at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Washington, D.C., where he supports national communications for Teamsters locals across the United States. In this role, he develops social media content, press materials and campaign messaging. He previously served as a communications specialist, developing materials for local unions and assisting on national campaigns.

He graduated from the University of Delaware in spring 2025 with a double major in political science and English. During the 2024 election cycle, he served as an advance associate for the Harris-Walz 2024 presidential campaign, traveling across the country to help produce more than 25 large-scale rallies and events for high-level principals, including Vice President Kamala Harris and vice presidential nominee Tim Walz. In this role, he coordinated event logistics, managed crowds of more than 28,000 people and responded to on-the-ground challenges to ensure successful events.

In spring 2024, Jonathan participated in the University of Delaware’s Semester in D.C. program and served as a presidential speechwriting intern at the White House in the Biden-Harris administration, gathering statistics and background research used in presidential remarks. He also served as a legislative intern in the office of U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, drafting policy memos on legislative priorities and assisting with constituent relations.

Jonathan was a recipient of the Biden Institute Summer Internship Program, working as a policy intern in the office of Delaware Gov. John C. Carney. In this role, he conducted research and drafted policy memos on issues including labor growth, healthcare and education policy.

At the University of Delaware, Jonathan held several leadership positions, including serving as student body president of the Student Government Association, where he represented students in discussions with University leadership and the Board of Trustees. He also served as vice president of academics and member development for the Interfraternity Council; a member of the Allocations Board, helping oversee the distribution of funding to student organizations; a member of the Biden Institute Student Advisory Council; and a political science ambassador.