Each semester, Bill Coplin ended his introductory policy studies course the same way. He led his students to the first-floor foyer of Maxwell Hall, gathered them before the iconic statue of George Washington, and had them read aloud the Oath of the Athenian City-State engraved on the wall behind it.

The oath’s closing promise, to “transmit this city not only not less, but greater, better and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us,” was in many ways the mission statement Coplin had been living since he arrived at Syracuse University in 1969 as an associate professor. Over the 56 years that followed, he founded the Policy Studies Undergraduate Program, mentored tens of thousands of students, authored more than 115 books and articles, and became one of the most honored and beloved teachers in the University’s history.

Coplin, professor of policy studies and Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence, retired Jan. 1, 2026.

While he sought a quiet exit from a storied career, his legacy lives on in the impact on countless careers, and in the Bill Coplin Policy Studies Support and Experiential Learning Endowed Fund. Through Coplin’s estate, the fund will become permanently endowed, but it can immediately support policy studies students thanks to his initial contribution.

A devoted alumna is helping to build the foundation. Rebecca Edelman ’03 B.A. (PSt) has pledged to match up to $10,000 in donations made to the fund now through the end of March 2026.

“Coplin’s insistence on action over theory and real skills over fluff has shaped every job I’ve held, every pitch I’ve made and every boardroom I’ve entered,” said Edelman, who now leads Caper Associates LLC, an education venture that seeks to address the gap between traditional learning and workforce readiness. “I owe a great deal to this program, and I am proud to carry its purpose and values forward.”

A Different Drummer

Coplin said he has always been an outlier in academia.

“I never followed a strict academic path,” he said, pointing out that he finished his undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins with a 3.2 GPA before earning a master’s degree and Ph.D. in international relations from American University. He emerged, by his own account, “completely unconstrained by the reality of academia.”

As a professor, he focused on practicality. What skills do students need? What experiences best prepare them for the real world?

He founded the Policy Studies Undergraduate Program in 1977 on the premise of those questions and around the belief that students should leave college ready to make a tangible difference. The program required 30 hours of community service, embedded directly into the curriculum.

Coplin never asked his students to be selfless idealists. “I ask students, ‘Do you want to do good or do well?’” he often said. “The answer should be both, but unless you’re Mother Teresa, you should do well first.”

His mantra, “do well, and do good,” became a guiding principle among alumni, who often referred to themselves as “do gooders” as well as “Coplinites.”

Renee Captor ’80 B.A. (PSt) said his teachings served her well as an attorney and nonprofit director. “Skills really do win, and as it turns out, Excel is life,” she said, offering a nod to some of Coplin’s sayings. Another of his favorites: “Life is an aggregation problem.”

Sam Underwood '11 B.A. (PSt) remembers receiving a less-than-ideal grade and pointed written feedback on an assignment from Coplin.

“That was the first time anyone had told me in an academic setting that, if I was going to be successful, I needed to apply myself rather than just regurgitating the notes I had read from a book,” said Underwood, who now leads one of Ohio’s fastest-growing startups. His message to Coplin: “You did well, and did good yourself.”

Measuring a Legacy

The numbers tell a remarkable story.

Richard Miller III ’17 B.A. (PSt/CCE) took Coplin’s introductory course through Syracuse University’s Project Advance program as a high school senior. One of more than 40,000 high school and University students to take the course, he said it was a “major reason” he came to Maxwell as an undergraduate and went on to graduate from the College of Law. Now an attorney, he said Coplin's lessons “made a big impact on my life.”

Through the years, Coplin consulted with more than 40 high schools across New York state on curriculum reform, and he placed students in districts to help with their mission. By client estimates, his students collectively provided more than $100,000 in research services and more than $60,000 in direct services to nonprofit agencies each year.

Over the decades, Coplin cultivated an extensive network of partnerships with nonprofit organizations and schools. His students also gained experience working with youth and coordinating resources through Syracuse University Literacy Corps. And, he provided opportunities for them to work in New York City schools through a partnership he developed with the New York City Board of Education.

Skills Win, another initiative developed under Coplin’s guidance, sends students into local middle and high schools as skills coaches, facilitating short, fun exercises designed to build the competencies young people need to thrive—typing, time management, public speaking, financial literacy and career readiness. To date, the program has reached more than 1,900 students at schools and organizations.

In 2024, Coplin worked with Edelman to revise and update the Skills Win curriculum—a collaboration that deepened her commitment to the program she is now helping to sustain.

Carrying it Forward

At the 2025 One University Awards ceremony, Chancellor Kent Syverud presented Coplin with the Chancellor's Medal—the University’s highest honor. “At almost every gathering for 12 years, a student or an alumnus from the past 50 years has come up to tell me that Bill Coplin’s teaching transformed their career,” Syverud said in a recorded message. “I can't think of a more meaningful legacy for a professor.”

Coplin was characteristically humble: “I help my students be what they want to be, but not what I want them to be. That makes me feel good, that keeps me going.”

Policy studies is now part of the Public Administration and International Affairs Department, and led by Peter Wilcoxen, Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence. Shortly after the transition in 2022, Coplin said, “He shares the same visions and that’s very fortunate. I’m very happy.”

Wilcoxen acknowledges the big shoes to fill. “His entire career has been focused on preparing students to solve real-world problems identified by people in the community,” he said of Coplin. “He almost single-handedly changed the lives of two generations of policy studies majors. We are deeply grateful for his decades of service—and for his generosity in ensuring that work continues.”

Dean David M. Van Slyke echoed the sentiment. “Bill built something rare in higher education—a program where skills, experience and public purpose were inseparable,” he said. “Having worked alongside him with students over many years, I saw how he pushed all of us to think harder about how we prepare students to solve real problems and how he was willing to evolve when it made the program stronger. That spirit continues today with policy studies embedded in public administration and international affairs.”

The fund Coplin established will help ensure his vision for the policy studies program by providing financial support for undergraduates to gain experience as course assistants and through paid administrative support. Wilcoxen noted that Coplin entrusted his students to play major roles in running his classes as undergraduate teaching assistants. “For many, that level of responsibility is a life-changing experience,” he said.

The vanity license plate that once read “DO GOOD”— featured in a “Larry King Live” segment in 2009 and later framed as a keepsake—may have left Eggers Hall along with its owner. But the message it carried has not.

Coplin’s legacy lives on in the thousands of students he sent out into the world, and in the fund that will support many more.