UPDATED: Sept. 1 at 10:32 p.m.

Kenneth Kavajecz’s toes inch over the Hendricks Chapel stage. His head tilts down, his heart pounds as he looks to the floor below.

He likens this to a view he had had earlier in the summer. For Kavajecz’s 50th birthday, he and his family went skiing. From atop a mountain cliff, with his skis inching over the edge some 13,000 feet in the air, he looked down at the steep drop below. At the time, he felt just what the freshmen before him feel: fear and uncertainty. But Kavajecz ignored those feelings, the rocks and the wind and jumped off the cliff to head down the mountain anyway — just as he’s done all his life.

“Don’t take the (ski) lift back down,” he told his audience of about 700, many of whom were freshmen and soon to begin classes at Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management.

“It’s time to jump.”

Kavajecz knows this. He’s leapt all his life: When he jumped from his small hometown in northern Wisconsin to the state’s largest university. When he jumped from there to the United States Federal Reserve. When he jumped to two of the world’s top universities. And when he jumped to Whitman, which, under his leadership, has become a top-ranked business school.

The day Kavajecz was named the Whitman dean in April 2013, Bloomberg LP ranked it No. 72 among the top undergraduate business schools. Three and a half years later, Whitman is ranked No. 23. It’s an ascent for the business school and Kavajecz, who was a first-generation college student.

“I never thought I’d be here. I really just hoped that I could get through college and find a job,” he said in his fourth floor corner office. “And actually, I was sort of surprised every time that the jobs worked out really well and I actually seemed to do OK. I just keep following one step in front of the other and all the sudden you show up here.”

•••

The village of Edgar, Wisconsin has a zip code, and not a whole lot else. When Kavajecz was born in the northern Wisconsin town in 1966, fewer than 1,000 residents lived there, according to U.S. Census data.

“There were more Holstein cattle than there were people,” he said. “Going from there to Madison was going to the big city for me.”

From an early age, Kavajecz showed the ambition that has helped him throughout his career. At age 5, he wanted to be president of the U.S. Throughout his schooling, he pulled out his homework right when he got home. His mother never had to tell him to do his work, nor did she ever see a “C” on his report cards. He served as his class president all four years of high school and graduated in the top five of his class.

“His competition was with himself,” said his mother, Carol. “That’s the kind of drive that he had.”

From his father, a real estate broker, Kavajecz learned two values that have stuck with him: Never be late and dress to respect those you meet. That’s why he wore sport coats in high school even though he got teased because of it. That’s why he’s often the first one to arrive at meetings. That’s also why, as Whitman dean, he doesn’t want to be seen in the building without a jacket and tie.

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1988, Kavajecz worked at the U.S. Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., where he arrived every day at 6 a.m. to measure the amount of reserves in the banking system. He reported his findings to former chairman Alan Greenspan.

In 1992, Kavajecz left the Federal Reserve for Northwestern University to earn a Ph.D. in finance. Starting in 1996, he taught at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School for seven years. Then he worked in a variety of roles at his alma mater, Wisconsin.

•••

By 2013, Whitman’s Bloomberg ranking had slipped from No. 47 to No. 72. Faculty said student engagement wasn’t improving. And when the dean at the time, Melvin Stith, announced plans to step down at the end of the spring of that year, a search for a new dean was launched.

Meanwhile, Kavajecz — then the chair of Wisconsin’s finance department — sought a higher administrative role. He explored several places, including SU. From his visits, he sensed that students were happier at SU than at the other universities he considered. And when he presented to Whitman faculty, his ideas were considered.

Jessica Sheldon | Photo Editor

Lorraine Branham, dean of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, chaired the search committee at the time. Eric Spina, former SU vice chancellor and now president of the University of Dayton, also interviewed Kavajecz. Both were impressed with his resume, but that alone was not what made him the ideal candidate.

Kavajecz’s personality, intelligence and rich past experiences coalesced into a perfect fit for Whitman. Spina recalled the sincerity by which Kavajecz spoke.

As part of the hiring process, Kavajecz interviewed with faculty, presented ideas and spoke in open settings. The roots of those ideas morphed into the Goodman IMPRESS program, Consurtio and Class Act, all of which have come to fruition, enhanced student engagement and driven the school’s rankings.

“It was clear to me that he was very creative and had some good ideas about how to improve the program and increase the rankings,” Branham said. “I think that has definitely come to pass.”

Kavajecz was hired as Whitman dean and began in July 2013.

One day that summer, Kavajecz emailed Amanda Nicholson, a professor of retail practice, to meet with her. Nicholson figured the dean just wanted to introduce himself.

When he sat down, Kavajecz asked Nicholson how Whitman could improve. Nicholson was honest with the dean, explaining that the undergraduates needed attention. Undergraduate students were rarely mentioned at faculty and curriculum meetings, Nicholson told him.

Kavajecz said he had heard enough, and moments later, he asked Nicholson to serve as associate dean for undergraduate programs.

“That was probably the best day of my life at Whitman,” Nicholson later said. “It was like, ‘You want to fix the undergraduate (program)? Go fix it and I’ll support you.’”

That interaction highlighted Kavajecz’s hands-off, partnership approach. In the first few months on the job, he listened to faculty and staff in one-on-one and group meetings. He chatted with students of all grade levels. More than three years later, transparency is still at the core of his leadership style: his office door is usually open, he includes his cell phone number in emails and he greets faculty and staff by their names.

•••

During the campus lockdown last October, Kavajecz stood at Whitman’s main entrance. An Orange Alert had gone off, advising the SU community to stay indoors. Kavajecz had been teaching a finance course, something he’s done even as dean.

But instead of going into his office, he stood at the front door advising students not to leave for fear they could get hurt.

Jessica Sheldon | Photo Editor

“He reminds me more of a high school principal,” said Joseph Personte, program manager of Impress.

At Whitman events, he takes pies to the face and crushes students in cup-stacking competitions. He’s gotten to know graduate students over drinks on Marshall Street. He almost always wears a “dapper suit,” said Cindie Adams, Whitman’s executive director of alumni and corporate relations.

At the University of Wisconsin, Kavajecz jumped into freezing lakes — while wearing a suit.

Every winter, Wisconsin participates in “Polar Plunge,” a charity event in which people dive into a freezing lake. As associate dean of Wisconsin’s MBA programs, Kavajecz “led the charge” among his students, said Adams, who worked at Wisconsin with Kavajecz. He was called “Coach K.”

“There’s this dichotomy about how he’s dressed to the nines all of the time, not a hair out of place ever,” Adams said. “The other side of him will take a pie in the face or jump in the freezing lake. Work hard, play hard.”

•••

A beige leather briefcase comes with Kavajecz wherever he goes.

“It’s like a Mary Poppins bag,” he said. “You wouldn’t be surprised if I pulled a lamp out of it.”

Among the items in his bag are: His glasses, a hard drive and a guitar pick. Behind his desk sits “The Art of War,” which he reads to refresh on leadership qualities. Across the room hang two portraits — one is Joshua Chamberlain, the Union Army’s savior at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Next to Chamberlain hangs a photo of Kavajecz’s grandfather, who taught him how to fish. He had “the patience of a saint,” Kavajecz said. The photo reminds him of his roots back home.

In addition to the curriculum overhaul, Kavajecz helped bring a new culture to Whitman. Giuseppe Castelli, a Class of 2016 Whitman alumnus, noticed this as part of the school’s major shift under Kavajecz.

“He shook everything up,” Castelli said. “Everything settled after years and years of complacency. He put the right people in the right places and brought this sense of urgency to the school that I didn’t see my freshman year. An urgency and fire to make us a top-notch school.”

Kavajecz greets parents, students and faculty personally. One of Whitman’s cleaners, Rob Manipole, is one of only a few people in the building when Kavajecz arrives around 6 or 7 a.m. The dean often walks by and greets Manipole, known as “Manny.”

“The building looks great.” “The floors are so polished.” “Keep it up.”

When there’s leftover food at events, Kavajecz has told him to dig in.

“He’s the man,” Manipole said.

“I don’t think anyone works harder to make this business school succeed than Dean K,” said Will Geoghegan, assistant professor of management.

But Kavajecz demurred, insisting the recognition go to his colleagues.

Carlos Ferrari, a Class of 2014 Whitman alumnus, met Kavajecz at a banquet, where the two chatted for a few minutes. Months later, they ran into each other in the elevator. Ferrari began to introduce himself, but Kavajecz politely cut him off.

“He was like, ‘No, I know who you are,’” Ferrari recalled. “That was very special. Someone who had met so many people that night was able to remember you.”

This is the same Kenneth Kavajecz who left the Village of Edgar because he just wanted to go to college and get a job.

“I’ve come quite a ways, I would say,” he said.

CLARIFICATION: In a previous version of this article, the reason a new Whitman dean was needed in 2013 was unclear. The dean at the time, Melvin Stith, had announced plans to step down and the university then launched a dean search to fill the open position. 

Published on August 30, 2016 at 11:11 pm

Contact Matthew: [email protected] | @MatthewGut21