July 2003

New VPs join University's
administrative team
UM will add two new high-level administrators this summer.

Teresa Branch, formerly associate vice president for student affairs at Iowa State University in Ames, has been hired as UM's new vice president for student affairs. She started her new duties in June.

Daniel J. Dwyer, currently vice provost for research at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, will become UM's vice president for research and development Aug. 15.

Before taking her job in Ames, Branch worked 16 years at Arizona State University in Tempe as assistant vice president for student affairs and director of counseling and consultation. She worked as a counseling psychologist during the 1970s and '80s.

She earned a master's degree in criminal justice from the State University of New York in Albany in 1971 and a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1976. Branch said she's excited to be back in the Northwest.

In her new role Branch will oversee a dozen diverse UM offices, ranging from Enrollment Services to Campus Recreation, Financial Aid and University Dining Services.

Branch replaces Barbara Hollmann, who retired from UM after 23 years of service. Initially hired as associate athletic director in 1980, Hollmann helped women's sports teams flourish in the early years of Title IX. She was promoted to vice president for student affairs in 1987.

Dwyer replaces T. Lloyd Chesnut, who left UM recently to assume a similar position at the University of North Texas in Denton.

In his six years at UM, Chesnut more than doubled the amount of grant-funded research, propelling it beyond the $50 million mark. Dwyer had similar success and much the same duties when he served as vice president for research at the University of Maine during 1996-2000.

Dwyer will oversee research and sponsored programs, technology transfer, information technology, federal legislative relations, international programs, environmental health and occupational safety, and animal resources at UM.

During the past year at New Mexico State and during his tenure at Maine, Dwyer worked with federal, state and private funding sources to identify faculty research opportunities. He continually emphasized the role of higher education and research in economic growth for those states.

Dwyer earned a master's in chemistry and a doctorate in physical chemistry from Lehigh University in 1974 and 1976. He has been both a teacher and researcher, specializing in surface science and technology. Dwyer spent 12 years on the Maine faculty after working for a decade as senior staff chemist and group leader of surface chemistry and physics at Exxon Corporate Research Laboratory in New Jersey.

University Relations | Cary Shimek, Editor
The University of Montana-Missoula
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© 2004 The University of Montana