Dear UNT Faculty and Staff,

In a world of increasingly more challenging higher education funding, it has become critical for universities to find new sources of revenue and tap into their alumni donor bases. We are pleased to announce Brandon Buzbee will join our Mean Green Family as vice president for university advancement Aug. 29. We believe Brandon will harness the untapped potential of the Dallas-Fort Worth area and increase engagement with UNT's 461,000 alumni.

As our chief advancement officer, Brandon will develop and implement advancement strategies that align with the UNT strategic plan to significantly increase constituent engagement and fundraising outcomes. He will oversee UNT's philanthropic initiatives, including major and annual gifts, corporate, foundation, private endowment development, gifts, and the UNT Alumni Association.

Brandon comes to us from the University of Denver, where he successfully led development efforts aligned with transformational institutional priorities. His energy and enthusiasm, experience building an effective team and modern advancement apparatus, execution of large capital campaigns, and ability to relate to our constituents were key elements in our decision to appoint him as UNT's next advancement leader. He is excited to leverage our strong academic programs to further expand our advancement initiatives. Read more about Brandon in the UNT news release.

I am excited to watch Brandon lead our advancement team to better engage the UNT alumni donor base and expand our corporate and foundation efforts. My sincere thanks and appreciation to Stan Walker, who has ably led our dynamic university advancement team in the interim.

Please join me in welcoming Brandon to our UNT Family and in supporting him as UNT takes its advancement efforts to the next level.

UNT Proud,
Neal Smatresk
President