Full circle

Oakland University’s College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board recently launched its first Executive-in-Residence, featuring recently retired FBI agent Jeff Eberle, CAS ’87.

Eberle spent two days on Oakland’s campus, visiting classes, meeting with student organizations and working with students on resumes and elevator pitches. Eberle and fellow CAS Advisory Board member Shay Bailey hosted a social mixer to address how to translate your major into a career, how to land an interview and how to build a personal brand.

“I’m so grateful the university is allowing me to come here and try to help,” Eberle said. “I hope it was valuable to the students because I remember when I was an undergrad, my time was so valuable. I appreciate the students are giving me the opportunity to talk to them.”

Eberle joined the FBI in 1995 and retired in 2024. Assigned to the Detroit Division, Eberle worked on various criminal investigations, including financial crimes, crimes against children, organized and violent crime and foreign counterintelligence.

He held leadership roles as supervisor of several key programs and led the FBI’s Special Operations Group in Detroit. He also became a certified Hostage and Crisis Negotiator.

Throughout his career, Eberle earned multiple awards, including a Director’s Commendation for capturing a fugitive on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list. His final role was recruiting and coordinating new Special Agent applicants in Michigan.

“I'm very grateful for my career in the FBI and the opportunities to work so many different programs,” Eberle said. “I met some of the best and most wonderful people in my life, who some of them I have close relationships with to this day, including my wife. I met so many wonderful people, not just agents, but professional staff as well.

“I got to meet people who are from different backgrounds, races, cultures, religions, but that all have those same core values of wanting to help people and who believe in the Constitution. And many of them, perhaps most of them, could have made much more money in the private sector. They put themselves at risk every day because they think it's more important to help people than it is to be safe and wealthy. I'm just very, very grateful.”

Eberle said when he worked for the FBI, every day he hoped to make the world a better place, even if it was just a small corner of the world. He credits his education at Oakland with helping him become as successful as he was.

"I can't overstate how much a liberal arts degree helped me in my career,” Eberle said. “Having the core skills of knowing how to do research and do that well, how to write and how to do that well, and having had the benefit of excellent professors when I went through here to train me in those skills were just invaluable.

“The liberal arts education opens your aperture to an understanding of so many different cultures, different histories of people, that it gave me an appreciation and understanding that worked to my benefit professionally.”

Eberle said he was inspired to come talk and work with students because he remembers how he felt as a student at Oakland and how at times he doubted himself and his career path. He hopes he can help provide guidance for students.

“I remember very clearly the way I felt as an undergrad at Oakland and as an undergrad liberal arts major, and as someone who was working to put themselves through college,” Eberle said. “I took nothing for granted. I was very unsure, there was a lot of self-doubt and a lot of uncertainty, but I kept on pushing. I thought what I was doing was the right thing and I completed my degree.

“Once I retired, I wanted to try to give back and to help undergrads and graduate students or anyone who goes to Oakland University,” Eberle added. “To help them figure out what it is they might want to do and to help give them the best opportunity to find a job. Or at the very least, hopefully let them know that if they're having similar self-doubt, similar feelings, similar uncertainty, anxiety, depression, that they're not alone, and that it is, at least in my estimation, the normal way to feel. Let them know it will pay off and I’m proof of it.”

Current Oakland student Lilly Rziemkowski attended several of the Eberle talks and events. Rziemkowski said it was a great opportunity to hear from someone with real experience and she feels it will really help her moving forward.

“I thought the events went really well,” said Rziemkowski, who is majoring in psychology and sociology. “Each one gave me a deeper understanding of how the FBI works and what they look for in candidates. Jeff was very engaging and informative, and I appreciated the opportunity to connect with someone that already had experience in the field of the FBI or public service roles.

“Jeff was super engaging and down-to-earth,” Rziemkowski added. “He didn’t just talk about his job in the FBI, but also shared his personal stories, which made the whole experience feel much more relatable. I appreciated how honest he was about the challenges of working in the FBI and the steps needed to get into the field. Even though I’m not planning to be an FBI agent, his stories were inspiring and gave me a better understanding of what the role involves."

Eberle encouraged all the students he met to reach out if they needed anything and said the best advice he could give them is to just keep working.

“If there’s something, a job or career that they want, keep driving,” Eberle said. “Until you reach a point where somebody says, ‘Absolutely, no,’ then keep driving. If it’s something you want, keep coming at that company or person. Whether it's sending them copies of your resume or whatever. If they say, ‘Well, you don’t have enough community service.’ Then go out and do it and comeback. I'm a true believer, if you show that sincerity, and you keep driving, you will succeed. It's especially important for liberal arts majors. Don't give up because that sincerity will come through eventually.”