Texas Woman’s University has named a seasoned nonprofit executive as the inaugural president of its campus in Dallas.
Monica Christopher, who has extensive experience in public-private partnerships and fundraising, will take over as campus president on February 1. The university system announced Christopher’s appointment on January 18.
Stressing that Christopher’s Dallas roots “run deep,” Carine Feyten, TWU’s chancellor, called her “an exceptional innovator and collaborator with a solid track record of successful fundraising and relationship building in Dallas.”
“With her leadership at Texas Woman’s Dallas and her partnership with other university and college leaders, I can see Dallas developing into even more of a destination city for those seeking higher education credentials,” Feyten continued. “Monica demonstrates great passion for her work and exudes a polished, energetic professionalism.”
Christopher has worked with the Dallas-based Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Morning News, WFAA, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Dallas Summit, the Junior League of Dallas, the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association, the Women’s Auxiliary at Children’s Medical Center, and other groups. In her new position, she will stand at the helm of the campus while working with an array of stakeholders, including students, faculty, staff, alumni, community members, business owners, and policymakers.
TWU’s Dallas campus is located in the Southwestern Medical District. What started as a nursing program at Parkland Hospital in 1954 has blossomed into the T. Boone Pickens Institute of Health Sciences-Dallas Center. The campus already hosts a number of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs in nursing, occupational therapy, and physical therapy and includes the acclaimed Stroke Center-Dallas.
The Dallas campus aims to grow its student body, which graduates roughly 2,000 nursing and other health professionals each year, according to the university’s press release.
“Texas Woman’s has a distinguished history in Dallas, and I am honored and beyond thrilled to serve as the inaugural president of the Dallas campus,” Christopher said, per the release. “I look forward to working with the university’s talented faculty, staff, and students to grow the campus, build on its legacy of excellence, and bring greater awareness to the outstanding degree programs offered here.”
Last fall, TWU named J. Clinton Grant as the new head of its Doswell School for Aeronautical Sciences, a new aviation program offered at the institution, as previously covered by The Dallas Express. Made possible through a $15 million charitable donation from the Houston J. and Florence A. Doswell Foundation, the program will offer a Federal Aviation Administration-approved curriculum and seek partnerships with airlines to help provide students with flight training.