Dallas Branch, associate professor, College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, celebrated his career accomplishments with colleagues, family and friends at a reception and dinner on April 15, 2016 at Lakeview Resort in Morgantown and hosted by CPASS.
“Dr. Branch has made a significant and lasting impact upon the sport management program at WVU. As a result of his efforts, this program has received a great deal of national and international acclaim, and has helped the program attract the best and brightest students,” explained Jack Watson, professor and chair, Department of Sport Sciences.
A four-time Teacher of the Year, Branch has taught at WVU for 27 years, primarily in the Master of Science in Sport Management on campus program. He served as the program coordinator for 12 of those years, responsible for internship and curricular development, as well as other administrative duties. He served as one of the original seven Resident Facility Leaders appointed by President David Hardesty in 1996.
“Sport Management alumni have gone on to achieve great honors across many areas of the sport landscape, creating one of the strongest alumni networks in the nation. Dr. Branch’s contributions to the sport management program at WVU will continue for many years to come,” Watson added.
In 1992, Branch developed the Sport Marketing Quarterly, a professional sport marketing journal published four times per year. He served as Editor for this prestigious and internationally acclaimed professional journal, now read in 25 countries, until 1995. It remains the only publication of its kind in the world.
Branch was selected in 1994 as one of three charter members of the North American Society for Sport Management/National Association of Sport and Physical Education sport management council, a national distinction. Also in 1994, he was selected to serve a three-year appointment as a member of the sport management program review council.
Branch has contributed significantly to the fields of sport management and marketing through his extensive publication and conference participation. He served as the Sport Management Council’s program planner for the 1996 National Convention.
A former basketball and baseball player at UNC-Chapel Hill, a high volume marketing executive with the Xerox Corporation and vice president of marketing with the IHL’s Indianapolis Checkers Hockey Club, Branch brings a unique, and often referred to as the ideal, background of sport, business and academics to the field of sport management and marketing. He received the Sport Marketing Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2009.