Mr. Michael L. Haywood

Michael L. Haywood retired as the founding Director of the Office of Minority Affairs for the College of Business at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2015. As Director he was essential is the planning of the office and ensuring the proactive support for minority students in the College and at SIU.

Michael worked diligently to encourage minority student enrollment and ensure student success. His work as a student recruiter lead many students to Carbondale. His outreach to those students did not stop with enrollment. He became a mentor and “coach” to many. He lead activities through his office to encourage student leadership including sponsoring many registered student organizations, participating in College of Business spirit weeks, creating and hosting the Minority Student Leadership Conference, and creating the course “Success 101” for minority students.

His dedication to students continued beyond their time at SIU. As part of this vision to welcome students to the College of Business “family” he worked to establish professional internships and career, and not just JOB, opportunities. A favorite “Haywoodism” a JOB is “just outside broke” and “we don’t do that here” we have “Careers.” He worked to establish connections with Fortune 500 companies through the INROADS program and securing paying internships for Business students.

He worked to keep and build relationships with the minority alumni of the College of Business. He found the Minority Affairs Advisory Board, hosted the College of Business Black Alumni Group (BAG) reception at his home, and met with many alumni on networking trips to promote SIU and the College of Business. His tireless networking encouraged his network to recommend SIU to prospective students.

Michael Haywood worked diligently for the College of Business and SIU for 30 years. He is a great supporter of students and the University. His dedication is unparalleled.