HELENA (AP) -- Gov. Brian Schweitzer has appointed a Billings financial adviser to the Board of Regents, which oversees the state's higher education system.

Todd Buchanan succeeds Mark Semmens, whose term on the Montana Board of Regents expired at the beginning of this month.

Buchanan co-owns Buchanan Capital in Billings.

His background includes work as the executive director of ZooMontana and time spent in Nicaragua as a Peace Corps volunteer.

He holds a bachelor's degree in business marketing from Montana State University in Bozeman.

Semmens works at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Great Falls.

He leaves the board after a term that began with an appointment from former Gov. Marc Racicot in 2000.

Buchanan, like Semmens, lists his political affiliation as independent.

Schweitzer also made two appointments to the state Board of Education, naming Great Falls teacher and former teacher of the year Patty Myers to another term. Myers is a Democrat.

Sharon Carroll of Ekalaka, an independent, was also named to the board. She is a math teacher.