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College of Liberal Arts and Sciences University of Florida
Faculty Member

Dennis K. Hays

Dennis Hays’ path carried him far beyond the University of Florida through decades of leadership and service on the global stage. Along the way, he built a career marked by diplomacy, public service and international engagement. Today, he brings that perspective back to his alma mater as a member of the Dean’s Leadership Council.

Career Story

Dennis Hays is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Guggenheim Brothers Fusion Initiative. He was a member of the US Foreign Service for a quarter century and is a former Ambassador to the Republic of Suriname. While with the State Department, he served as a Presidential Advance Man for Presidents Reagan and Bush Senior and was twice elected President of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA). He was posted in the Caribbean, Africa and South America and served as the Coordinator for Cuban Affairs and the Director for Mexico. The State Department Inspector General honored him for running the best managed mid-sized Embassy worldwide. 

After leaving the Service, Amb., Hays worked with a nuclear technology company and wrote the advisory board precepts for the Abu Dhabi nuclear program. He has promoted anti-corruption and police training overseas and provided political and economic risk analysis to the international oil industry. 

He received a BA degree in American Studies from the University of Florida, an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and is a graduate of the National War College.  

He served two terms on the Foreign Service Labor Relations Board, is the immediate past President of the Reston Citizens Association, Chairman of the Fairfax Library Advocates and a founding member of the Dean’s Leadership Council of the University of Florida.  He also has worked with the US military on psychological operations training and supported Large Scale Combat Operations exercises. While undergoing testing to enter the Foreign Service, he served on the congressional staff of Congressman Charles E. Bennett, the Chairman of the Seapower subcommittee. 

Education

  • 1976 BA American Studies, University of Florida
  • National War College, Ft. McNair, Washington
  • MPA, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Honors and Awards

  • State Department’s Superior Honor Award (1981, 1987, 1991, 1995)
  • Christian Herter Award for Intellectual Courage and Creative Dissent (1996) 
  • Inspector General’s Award for best managed embasssy
  • Order of the Palm from the Republic of Suriname (2000)
  • Civic Champion Award from UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2018)