Leadership

Joan Nesbitt

Joan Nesbitt is a fifth generation Oklahoman with Native American heritage (enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation). She earned a BA in Communication from The University of Tulsa and an MA in Organizational Dynamics from The University of Oklahoma. She has more than 30 years’ experience in university advancement, the last 17 at the executive level, and she has been a part of four successful comprehensive campaigns. She and her teams have been recognized multiple times for fundraising and engagement excellence by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, including two national CASE awards in 2016 and 2020 for overall fundraising. In 2020, Joan and the Advancement team at Missouri S&T closed a $300 million charitable gift, the fifth largest of all time to a public university and the largest in Missouri history.

Robin Van Harpen

As the senior vice chancellor for Finance and Administrative Affairs and Chief Business Officer, Robin Van Harpen is responsible for UWM’s finances and oversees a number of administrative units that keep the university running, including financial services, budget, procurement, facilities, campus planning, transportation services, safety/risk management, human resources, IT, police and legal. An attorney, she served as UWM’s chief legal counsel from 2004 to 2012. Prior to joining UWM in 2001, Van Harpen worked for the Milwaukee law firm von Briesen & Roper, s.c., practicing school law. She earned her law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School.

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Chia Youyee Vang

As vice chancellor for Community Empowerment and Institutional Inclusivity, Chia Youyee Vang leads efforts to advance diversity and equity and foster inclusion for all campus community members. Vang served as associate vice chancellor for Global Inclusion and Engagement from 2017-2021. A professor of history, she has been on the UWM faculty since 2006. Her teaching and research interests include 20th century U.S. international history, with particular emphasis on its relation to refugee migration. Outside of academia, Vang has 10 years of experience providing program evaluation, planning and policy research consulting services. She earned her doctorate in American Studies from the University of Minnesota.

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Kelly Haag

Haag leads a diverse team responsible for supporting students in a division that includes Athletics, the Dean of Students Office, University Housing, University Recreation, the UWM Student Union, Norris Health Center, Retail Services, Children’s Learning Center, and various student life areas. She worked for many years in University Housing and served as its director from 2011 until her appointment as chief student affairs officer in January 2018. Her notable accomplishments include implementation of UWM’s living learning community program and the university’s inclusive housing policy.

Brian Thompson

Brian Thompson is Chief Innovation and Partnership Officer and leads UWM’s Office of Strategic Partnerships. He is responsible for partnerships with corporations, non-profit organizations, and other groups to enhance and uplift the academic enterprise, research accomplishments, and student experiences at UWM. In this role, he oversees key initiatives that include the Connected Systems Institute (CSI), Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute (NMDSI), Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin (FCW), and the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center (LEC). Thompson joined the UWM community in 2006 to help launch the UWM Research Foundation which he led through 2022. He also served as Director of the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center from 2016 to 2023 and is Co-PI on the Milwaukee I-Corps (Innovation Corps) program sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Thompson has taught new ventures as an adjunct instructor in the Lubar College of Business and the UWM Honors College. In previous roles, Mr. Thompson led the development and launch of communications satellites, worked in corporate ventures and helped create startups in biotechnology and the entertainment industry. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from UCLA.

Andrew Daire

In his role as provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, Andrew P. Daire serves as UWM’s chief academic officer overseeing all academic operations. He is responsible for administration of all schools and colleges, enrollment management and many other centers, institutes, and units in the Division of Academic Affairs. Daire came to UWM in 2023 and is also a professor in Educational Psychology. His research interests include family stability and economic mobility and career development in STEM recruitment and retention. He previously served as dean of the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and held prior positions at the University of Houston and the University of Central Florida. He earned his doctorate in Counseling Psychology and School Psychology from Florida State University.

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Joely Urdan

As Chief Legal Counsel, Joely Urdan is responsible for the provision of legal services to the institution and focuses her own legal practice on employment and personnel matters, administrative policies, litigation, student conduct issues, and campus safety. She also oversees UWM’s Office of Compliance and Ethics. Before UWM, she spent four years at the Wisconsin Department of Justice, where she represented state agencies and state employees in state and federal litigation and argued appeals before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Wisconsin Court of Appeals and Wisconsin Supreme Court. She joined UWM in July 2003 and served as Legal Affairs’ associate director from January 2005 until she was named interim director in October 2012 and Chief Legal Counsel in May 2014. She earned her law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School and Bachelor of Arts from UW-Madison.

Sue Weslow

As Chief of Staff to Chancellor Mark Mone, Sue Weslow serves as an advisor, oversees a wide variety of initiatives involving UWM’ strategic priorities, and manages effective communication, coordination, and implementation of university-wide projects. Sue has worked at UWM since 1997 with prior roles as senior university legal counsel, associate vice chancellor of finance and administrative affairs, assistant dean in the College of Letters & Science, and associate vice chancellor of human resources. Sue earned her Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in Business Administration from UW-Milwaukee and a Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Deanna Alba

Deanna Alba brings 12 years of experience in professional services business-to-business marketing and 20 years of higher education marketing to the role. For the past 15 years, she has been the assistant dean for marketing and communications in UWM’s College of Letters & Science (L&S), the largest academic unit on campus. Her foci in L&S were on enrollment and recruitment of freshmen and transfer students, and brand awareness for the college.

Her communication deliverables featured student- and parent-centric priorities: job outcomes, paths to graduation, student support services and the value of a UWM education. As a first-generation college student herself who attended UWM while in high school to earn early college credit, these messages hold deep personal meaning to her.

Deanna holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from UW-Parkside and a master’s degree in human development and social policy from Northwestern University.