His previous faculty affiliations have included the John F. Kennedy School of government at Harvard University, the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, and the Manchester (UK) Business School. During his academic career, he also served as a board member, consultant, and committee chair for numerous public and nonprofit agencies, including the National Research Council, the World Bank, and Chicago’s Metropolitan Planning Council.

Lynn spent nearly a decade in senior policy making positions in the U.S. federal government, including the Department of Defense, where he was a deputy assistant secretary for resource analysis, the National Security Council, where he was director of program analysis, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, where he was assistant secretary for planning and evaluation, and the Department of Interior, where he was assistant secretary for program development and budget. He was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry from 1964 to 1966.