Dallas Branch, WVU sport management associate professor emeritus, will receive the 2017 Academic Achievement in Sport and Entertainment Award from Sport Entertainment and Venues Tomorrow (SEVT), in recognition of his contributions to the sport management and marketing fields. Branch will receive the award during the upcoming SEVT Conference in Columbia, SC on March 23, 2017.
Branch felt both honored and overwhelmed when the organization contacted him with the news. “Previous recipients of this award represent the icons and legends in our sport management and administration discipline. They are among the founding fathers and distinguished leaders in the field. To be recognized with this group as a recipient is truly an honor and also very humbling,” Branch explained.
Charles R. Higgins, one of the first recipients of the award, as well as Branch’s mentor within the Sports Administration program at Ohio University, emphasized how Branch deserved the recognition. “Dallas is a great professional and it’s appropriate that his work is being recognized in the field,” Higgins said.
As a four-time teacher of the year, Branch taught primarily in the WVU graduate sport management program. He served as program coordinator for 14 of 29 years, overseeing internship and curricula development and administrative duties.
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 and was a founding member of the Sport Marketing Association.
A former basketball and baseball player at UNC-Chapel Hill, High Volume Marketing Executive with the Xerox Corporation and vice president of marketing with the Indianapolis Checkers Hockey Club, Branch brings a unique and ideal background of sport, business and academics to the field of sport management and marketing. Branch retired in 2016.