Syracuse’s Whitman School Welcomes New Director and Associate Director to Defense Programs

The Defense Programs at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management welcomes Thomas Constable ’04 MBA, ’04 M.S. (MAX), as its director and Ltc. (ret) John G. Dean IV, ’04 MBA, ’04 M.S., as associate director. Both Constable and Dean are proud to return to their alma mater, as both are graduates of the Defense Comptrollership Program (DCP) and earned dual master’s degrees—an MBA from the Whitman School and master’s degree in public administration (MPA) from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs—as classmates in 2004.

Thomas Constable, director, Defense Programs

From 1987 to 2008, Constable was on active duty with the U.S. Army and is a retired civilian senior executive with the Department of Defense. He was the associate director of the Defense Program from August 2023 through February 2024 before moving into his current role. Constable had a long career as a member of the senior executive service with the Department of Defense. Prior to joining Whitman, he was the principal assistant secretary of defense for manpower and reserve affairs from 2022 to 2023 and the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for readiness from 2019 to 2022, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Constable also held the position of director of resource integration for the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence and as the associate director for military operations/comptroller for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, as well the senior financial official for the U.S. Army, Africa; and as a senior budget analyst for the Under Secretary of Defense, Comptroller.

As he settles into his role as director of Whitman’s Defense Program, Constable says, “I loved my own experience with this program, and the opportunity came at a time when I had 35 years with the Department of Defense,” he says. “I really wanted to teach but never had the chance. So, it all came together beautifully, and I haven’t looked back.”

Ltc. (ret) John G. Dean, associate director, Defense Programs

Ltc. (ret) John G. Dean started in his new role as associate director of Defense Programs at Whitman on April 1. He retired from the U.S. Army after 25 years of active duty service. Before joining Whitman, he was the chief of the Agency Contingency and Coordination branch of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency in Alexandria, Virginia from 2002 to 2024.  He worked for the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as a regional chief of regulatory compliance and chief of chemical security in New York City from 2017 to 2022.  Before DHS, he served as the regional program manager for the Radiological Assistance Program, National Nuclear Security Agency in Idaho Falls, Idaho, from 2013 to 2017.  He is also a freelance writer, organizational consultant and training developer.

“I am very pleased to come back to Syracuse University and the Whitman Defense Programs after 20 years,” says Dean. “I’m thankful for the knowledge I received here, and I’m eager to share my years of military and federal experience with students and Defense Program future leaders.”

“The Whitman School is fortunate to welcome Tom and John to the Defense Programs,” says J. Michael Haynie, executive dean at Whitman and the University’s vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation, as well as a 14-year veteran as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. “Their collective experience both as active duty military and with various agencies within the Department of Defense will not only greatly benefit our students but will help our programs continue to reach a broader audience across the DOD and the national security community.”

The Whitman School has over 70 years of meeting the executive educational needs of active duty and civilian managers within the Department of Defense (DOD), as well as helping those transitioning out of the military prepare for opportunities in the workforce. The Defense Programs include a dual MBA/MPA in conjunction with the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and a 14-month Defense Comptrollership Program to train future comptrollers and resource officers in management skills and practical and analytical tools. It also offers short-term opportunities, such as the Army Comptroller Course, the Executive Comptroller Course, the Senior Resource Managers Program and the Army Financial Management 101 course.

Learn more about the Whitman School of Management’s Defense Programs here.