Matt earned a bachelor of arts in History and Political Science from Washington State University.   During his time as an undergraduate, Matt was active in his fraternity (Sigma Nu), student government, and the honors program.  He was elected at age 20 to serve on the Pullman City Council.  He also served as student body president and as assistant mayor pro-tempore as an undergraduate. 

Matt has also earned a masters degree in higher education administration and student affairs from the University of Vermont and a doctorate in higher education / adult education from the University of Wyoming. 

Matt currently serves as Dean of Students at the Montana State University, where he provides oversight and support for a variety of programs including Student Conduct, the CARE Program (Behavioral Intervention Team), Fraternity & Sorority Life, Parent & Family Relations, and the MSU Women’s Center.  He has previously supervised Recreational Sports & Fitness, Diversity & Inclusion Student Commons (DISC) and the Office of Activities and Engagement.   Matt was the 2019 receipt of the NASPA Scott Goodnight award for outstanding performance as a Dean. 

Matt created MSU’s first Behavioral Intervention Team in 2011.  Since then, the team has gone through three different iterations, and is now fully functioning with appropriate levels of staff and operational support. 

Matt has served on the Board of Directors for HAVEN, a Bozeman non-profit that works to reduce domestic and sexual violence.  Matt also served a three-year term as the Vice-Chair of the Albany County SAFE Project Board of Directors in Laramie, Wyoming.  Matt has a passion for reducing sexual assault and other forms of violence, especially in the context of higher education. 

He is an avid mountain biker and backcountry skier, and he’s married to an incredible partner and a father of two of the world’s most dynamic little girls, their daughters Roark Linlee and Avonlee Ryann.