James Dwyer has been named vice chancellor for university business services at Washington University in St. Louis, announced Nichol L. Luoma, executive vice chancellor for administration and chief administrative officer. He joins WashU from Arizona State University (ASU).
In this role, Dwyer is responsible for the strategic direction and operational oversight of WashU’s auxiliary enterprises and service centers. The portfolio’s scope covers much of the behind-the-scenes work of running a university, such as dining, parking and transportation, mail services, the bookstore, procurement and supplier diversity, as well as operation of Edison Theatre, the 560 Music Center and the Charles F. Knight Executive Education and Conference Center. He will begin in this new role at WashU Oct. 21.
Dwyer will be responsible for handling university purchasing of more than $1 billion worth of goods and services. He will be charged with partnering with student services, campus deans, advancement and other administrators to optimize partnerships with campus corporate partners and local suppliers.
“I’m excited to welcome Jim to WashU,” Luoma said. “His depth of experience at a large university like Arizona State makes him eminently qualified and prepared to oversee business operations here. I know his leadership will be a valuable addition to the teams that keep WashU running smoothly day after day.”
Dwyer has served for nearly eight years as assistant vice president for auxiliary business services at ASU, where he has supervised teams of both university employees and contract workers at a university with about 80,000 on-campus students and a total population of nearly 145,000 students. In that role he has overseen strategy, operations, fiscal planning and compliance for a wide variety of university services. Among them are the campus stores, parking and transportation, trademarks and licensing, and print services. He also worked to help redesign the organization to improve efficiency and to align business services’ operations with university priorities. Dwyer has also been a key contributor in managing many of ASU’s enterprise-level strategic partnerships.
Previously, he worked for several years in higher education sales and operations, overseeing various campus store locations in Massachusetts, California, Georgia, Colorado and Arizona. He currently serves as treasurer of the National Association of College Auxiliary Services Foundation.
Dwyer earned a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from San Diego State University and a master’s in business administration from the University of Georgia.
