Changing Lives with Trust, Integrity and an Open Heart

To know him is to love him. To meet him on campus, even for a brief moment, is to feel seen, respected, appreciated and loved. That is how you feel when you encounter the one, and only, Michael Reuter.

An adored and enduring presence on campus for the past twenty years, Reuter has mentored countless Seton Hall students and been a supportive colleague across the University.

Now everyone can get to know Mike. His story of trust and integrity is featured in the next installment of Seton Hall’s six-part Guiding Values video series.

The series highlights the principles reflected in the life of Seton Hall’s patroness, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton – a blueprint that informs the University’s mission. Each story looks how the paired principles of Faith and Hope, Trust and Integrity, Courage and Curiosity, Compassion and Service, Purpose and Resilience, Love and Action – inspire us in the work we do, in the students we serve and in the knowledge we seek.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Reuter attended the seminary and earned his bachelor’s degree from St. Peter’s University and a master’s degree in business administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He served as a Strategic Intelligence Officer during the war in Vietnam and worked in various roles within AT&T. Over the last 40 years, Reuter has generously applied his natural ability to inspire others as an executive coach and mentor.

Reuter joined the University in 2007. He hit the ground running and helped steer the development of the Center for Leadership Studies and then the Gerald P. Buccino ’63 Center for Leadership Development at the Stillman School of Business.

The Buccino Center was a major success and has received national recognition for leadership and organizational development. In 2018 the project evolved into a University-wide initiative, available to students from any school or major, and was renamed the Buccino Leadership Institute.

When Reuter formally retired from the University in 2020 – in the midst of the COVID pandemic – an enthusiastic crowd of well-wishers logged in to honor him at a virtual send-off.

Professor Reuter continues to stay active at Seton Hall and went on to become director emeritus of the Buccino Center. Today he serves as a Special Advisor to the Division of Continuing Education and Professional Studies (CEPS), where he focuses on strategy, leadership development and growth of Buccino Leadership Institute. Reuter was among the honorees recognized last October at the Buccino Leadership Institute’s 30th anniversary celebration.

Among the threads that have shaped Reuter’s life is the way he listens and comes across to those he meets. He is the kind of person who others open up to when they are struggling or find an answer to life’s difficult questions. Reuter has a deep sense that if people recognize his integrity, they will trust him with their own stories. He says that it’s the glue, the starting point, that holds everything together. As the video explains, Reuter has a rare ability to connect with students and colleagues instantly because people feel genuinely cared for in his presence. He brings consistency, openness and kindness to each conversation.

“The people I’ve served through the years,” Reuter shares on camera, “they come back and say things like you’ve change my life forever. That is the gift of integrity. We give to the people we serve. They give us their trust and there is a bond that is unbreakable, that changes life in both of us.”

As we see through Reuter’s story, and in the spirit of Elizabeth Ann Seton, how we show up for each other can have a lasting impact. Watch the latest installment of the Guiding Values series to discover the ways trust and integrity have shaped Reuter’s gift and his calling.

Categories: Community Engagement