Born and raised in mid-Michigan, Dr. Nick Armstrong has dedicated his life to serving the nation and advancing the lives of those who serve others.
After graduating high school, Nick received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. In 1996, when Nick was a plebe at West Point, he attended the last Army and Syracuse football game in the dome. Nick is a Class of 2000 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He served for eight years as a Field Artillery Army officer, including three tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Bosnia with the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, NY. Among several leadership and staff positions, Nick was selected as an Aide-de-Camp and then Speechwriter to the 10th Mountain Division Commanding General, who today is Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Nick is a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger, Airborne, and Air Assault Schools. His awards include two Bronze Star Medals and the Combat Action Badge.
Nick separated from military service in 2008, and he came to Syracuse University’s Maxwell School where he earned his M.P.A. and Ph.D. as Syracuse University’s first Post 9/11 GI Bill recipient. While in graduate school and working for SU’s Institute for Security Policy and Law, Nick met his wife, Liz (G’13), also a Maxwell alum and current member of the university’s advancement team. In 2014, Nick joined the newly established D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) where he spent nine years building and leading a nationally recognized research, data analytics, and policy team. In 2019, Nick was named to the HillVets100 list of the nation’s 100 most influential veterans and veteran-community advocates.
Nick’s two proudest military moments were having his father and grandfather, a WWII veteran who fought at Normandy, France, pin on his 2nd Lieutenant bar at his commissioning ceremony and also serving the surviving family of a fellow company commander who died in Afghanistan as their casualty assistance officer.
Earlier this year, Nick departed Syracuse University and ventured out to launch a new consulting company and join a digital health technology start-up, Even Health, which is focused on connecting healthcare workers and military professionals to mental health and suicide prevention services. At Even Health, Nick is charged with leading and growing their strategic partnerships with the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
