Representative Dan Branch serves as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from Dallas (Dist. 108). Elected in 2002, as a Republican, he represents downtown and central Dallas, as well as the Town of Highland Park and the City of University Park.

Rep. Branch is the Chairman of the House Committee on Higher Education, a member of the Legislative Budget Board, and serves on the Calendars, Redistricting and Elections Committees. This year, he was re-elected by his House colleagues in North Texas to lead the Dallas Area Legislative Delegation for his second term. In addition, he serves as Co-Chairman of the Joint Oversight Committee of Higher Education Governance, Excellence, and Transparency, and he serves on the Select Committee on State Sovereignty. Prior to chairing the Higher Education committee, he chaired a select committee on education finance, and served on the Appropriations, Public Education, Calendars and Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committees, as well as the Select Committee on Federal Legislation.

Last session, Chairman Branch led the successful efforts to develop more Tier One universities in Texas, reform the Top 10% college admissions law, and provide more interactive technology in public school classrooms. The Council of State Governments designated his classroom technology bill as model national legislation, and 8 states have adopted or are considering similar bills. His legislative efforts have earned him high marks from many sources, including The Dallas Morning News and Austin American-Statesman; both Texas Monthly and Capitol Inside listed him among their "best" of the 2009 and 2011 sessions of the Texas Legislature.

In addition to his service in the legislature, Branch is a corporate lawyer and shareholder of Winstead PC. He is a former judicial clerk to Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Jack Pope and a former aide to the late U.S. Senator John Tower. Branch is a member of the bars of Texas, New York and the District of Columbia.

Beyond his professional service, Branch chairs the board of SMU's John Tower Center for Political Studies and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a former president of The Dallas Assembly and a former Chairman of the Texas Public Finance Authority, appointed by Governor George W. Bush. In 2009, Branch was elected to serve on the board of the Texas Education Reform Foundation. In 2011, he was appointed to serve on the Southern Regional Education Board and the Education Commission of the States by Governor Rick Perry. In addition, he is an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow and a member of the Philosophical Society of Texas.

Branch is a graduate of the SMU School of Law, an alumnus of the Institute on Comparative Political & Economic Systems at Georgetown University and holds two undergraduate degrees from Oklahoma Christian University.

Dan and his wife, Stacey, are the parents of five children.