Business Affairs Administration

Arnim E. Dontes, MBA, became UT Southwestern’s Executive Vice President for Business Affairs in January 2012. As the medical center’s chief business officer, Mr. Dontes directs the activities of more than 15 business and service-related departments across campus, including Budget and Accounting, Human Resources, Financial Planning, Contracts Management, Environmental Health and Safety, General Services, and Purchasing, among others, as well as the University’s police department. Previously, Mr. Dontes served more than 20 years at the University of Illinois College of Medicine—Illinois’ flagship medical school—most recently as the Vice Dean for Administration, where he had responsibility for 30 basic science and clinical units with more than $500 million in annual budgets. Mr. Dontes holds his Bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois, Champaign, and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is the Chair-Elect for the Association of American Medical Colleges Group on Business Affairs.

William (Bill) Behrendt currently serves as Vice President for Human Resources at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where he is responsible for all “people” issues at the Medical School and its University Hospitals and Clinics. Prior to coming to Dallas in 2003, Dr. Behrendt served as Senior Vice President for Human Resources for CareGroup Health System and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. He previously held positions as Senior Vice President for Human Resources at the BJC Healthcare System and as President of Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital, both in St. Louis. Dr. Behrendt, who earned his BS from Tulane University and his PhD in clinical psychology from Washington University in St. Louis, has extensive knowledge and experience in organization development, change management, and strategic planning. He is also a graduate of the Executive Coaching Program at University of Texas at Dallas and an Associate Certified Coach member of the International Coach Federation.

Michael Serber first came to UT Southwestern Medical Center in 2003 as Assistant Vice President, Financial Planning and was promoted to his current position of Vice President, Financial Affairs, in September 2011. Prior to joining UT Southwestern, he was the manager of the Capital Planning Group at American Airlines and served as a senior financial analyst at Prudential Healthcare. Mr. Serber received his MBA from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University in 1999 and a Bachelor of Science (statistics and biometry) from Cornell University in New York in 1994.

Kirby Vahle has served as Vice President for Facilities Management since 1988. He oversees the facilities construction and operations for the multi-campus academic medical center, consisting of 11.2 million square feet, a staff of 500, and an annual budget of $250 million. Currently, Mr. Vahle, a licensed architect, is supervising the construction of a 1.4 million square foot, $800 million new university hospital. Prior to arriving at UT Southwestern, he was an architect and project manager at The University of Texas System and The University of Alaska System. Mr. Vahle received his Bachelor of Architecture from Louisiana State University in 1976.