Seth Bodnar

About Seth Bodnar

Seth Bodnar is an innovative and collaborative leader with a track record of success in building effective teams and helping people and organizations reach their full potential. Having successfully led in both the public and private sectors, he is experienced in shaping the strategy of an organization and providing the vision, voice, and visibility needed for growth and long-term vitality. Seth firmly believes in the power of higher education to transform lives and communities. The son of two educators, he is passionate about teaching and mentorship and has received multiple honors for his leadership and coaching. Seth graduated first in his class from West Point, received both the Rhodes and Truman scholarships, and earned two masters degrees from the University of Oxford. He served as an assistant professor in the Department of Social Sciences at West Point, where he taught economics. Seth continues to serve as an Army Reserve officer and a visiting faculty member at West Point, and he is a board member of The Positivity Project, a non-profit organization focused on character education. Prior to his time on the faculty at West Point, Seth had a distinguished military career, serving in the 101st Airborne Division and the US Army’s First Special Forces Group. As a member of the Army’s elite Green Berets, he commanded a Special Forces detachment on multiple deployments around the world and later served as a special assistant to the Commanding General in Iraq. Before coming to the University of Montana, Seth was a senior executive at the General Electric Company, where he was responsible for long-term strategy and business transformation at GE Transportation, a global company with over employees and approximately $5 billion in revenue. Previously, he was President of GE Transportation’s Digital Solutions business and was GE Transportation’s first-ever Chief Digital Officer. Seth and his wife Chelsea live in Missoula with their three children.

Experience

1. President

   University of Montana

   Jan 2018 — Present · Missoula, MT, US

Education

• University of Oxford

  Rhodes Scholarship, MSc

  2001 — 2003

• West Point

  Bachelor of Science (BS)

  1997 — 2001