Michael J. Hayduk is the deputy director of the Air Force Information Directorate’s Rome Research Laboratory. The directorate’s mission is to lead the development and integration of Air Force warfighting information technologies.

Hayduk recalls several fond memories of Catholic school education, including the lifelong values that it instilled in him and recalls the culture of RCH and its family atmosphere.

Although the student body was very small in size there was an amazing sense of togetherness and closeness, he said, adding he has many lifelong friendships forged at the school.

As deputy director of Rome Lab, Hayduk plays a key role in overseeing an annual budget of over $1.6 billion and leading the activities of more than 1,200 scientists, engineers, administrative and support personnel. He is also responsible for coordinating AFRL’s Quantum Information Science research portfolio spanning six technical directorates.

Hayduk was instrumental in the creation of the Innovare Advancement Center which is the open innovation technology hub located just outside of the perimeter of the Information Directorate.

Hayduk joined the Air Force through the Palace Knight educational program in 1991 and was assigned to Rome Laboratory. Upon completion of his graduate studies, he served as a research engineer where he developed ultrafast solid state pulsed lasers for optical communication systems. He became the acting chief for the Electro-Optic Components Branch in 2005 in the AFRL Sensors Directorate. In 2007, he became the chief of the Emerging Computing Technology Branch in the AFRL Information Directorate. He was the chief of the Computing and Communications Division from 2011 to 2019.

Hayduk received a bachelor’s degree from Clarkson University, a master’s degree from the University of Virginia and a doctorate from Cornell University, all in electrical engineering.