Jake Herrle ’15 E.M.I.R. began his journalism career in the most traditional sense: as a staff photographer at a daily newspaper.

He says he couldn’t have imagined he would end up an Emmy-winning producer for “Texas Parks and Wildlife,” an outdoors show that airs on PBS stations around the Lone Star State and on YouTube.

And he believes his time as a midcareer student at Syracuse University in the Maxwell and Newhouse schools from 2014-2016 played a key role in his career trajectory.

He recently wrote to Margaret Lane, assistant director of Maxwell’s Executive Education program, to thank her and Syracuse for extraordinary flexibility that allowed him to tailor his educational pursuits in a way that had not been done.

Herrle was a newspaper photographer by trade but saw that the future of newspapers was in peril. Staff cutbacks were rising, and photojournalists were seen by those outside the newsroom as expendable.

Herrle adapted, adding video journalism into a portfolio that ultimately led to a pivotal move to Atlanta to join TBS. That led him onto a new path in visual journalism. There he began using cameras with video capabilities.

His natural curiosity at TBS helped him attain new skills, and they set the tone for the work he does today.

“I was always watching and asking questions, picking up on-the-job training,” Herrle relates.

“It was a pretty big leap—the transition from pictures to video,” he says.

He moved onto freelancing multimedia production and was often on the road, although his home base was Chicago. However, he grew tired of “working out of a suitcase.”

So Herrle, a 1998 graduate of Western Kentucky University, moved to Austin, Texas, where he embarked on a new career.

Always willing to adapt and learn, Herrle’s career path took a pivotal turn at Syracuse, where he earned an executive master’s in international relations and a certificate of advanced study in leadership of international and non-governmental organizations from Maxwell, while also engaged in communications studies at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications.

He also secured a graduate teaching position while at the University, which helped him pay for his education.

Choosing Syracuse was an easy decision, he says.

“The school’s reputation is rock solid, and they were willing to tailor my program to my interests,” he says.

Working together, Herrle was able to pursue a combined path of study, integrating policy work and multimedia.

“I think they were so accommodating in helping craft a curriculum based on my interests,” he says. “It would have been easy (for them) to say, ‘that’s not what we do here.’ They were very encouraging.”

In his letter to Lane, Herrle says his Maxwell/Newhouse experience played a key role in the next phase of his professional career.

“I have been able to work in niche jobs at every level of government (city, state, national) as well as NGO, nonprofit and INGO organizations in a communications capacity,” he wrote. “I feel my time at Maxwell enabled this.”

His current work as a TV producer for Texas Parks and Wildlife is particularly satisfying, he says.

The show tells the organizational story of the agency—the science, policies and results of conservation efforts. He’s been with them for three years.

“It’s a job I didn’t know existed 10 years ago when I began my SU journey,” he writes to Lane. “But it’s one that currently suits me well, and I believe we produce quality work. Incidentally, others agree, and I was recognized with an Emmy Award in November for a science/conservation story we did.”

Lane says Herrle’s experience at SU demonstrates the ability of the Executive Education program to tailor programs based on the needs of its students.

“Jake’s creative perspective in combining multimedia production and public policy is a testament to his passion for making the world a better place by using the power of storytelling to advance policy,” she says. “The experience midcareer professionals bring to Maxwell enable endless possibilities for their degree.”  

Herrle says his Maxwell/Newhouse experience was worth it.

“It’s not an easy thing to take on (midcareer studies),” he admits. “I’m just so thankful for the experience.”