Longtime nonprofit executive and community relations veteran Monica Christopher has been named the inaugural president of Texas Woman’s University’s Dallas campus and will begin on Feb. 1.

Christopher, who has held key fundraising and relationship building posts over the past 25 years at Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Morning News, and WFAA. Now, she’ll lead TWU’s Dallas campus as it works to raise the campus’ impact in the Dallas community.

Texas Woman’s Chancellor Carine Feyten calls Christopher an “exceptional innovator and collaborator.” The chancellor said the new president’s track record of local fundraising and relationship building will “serve Texas Woman’s well in its quest” to grow the Dallas campus.

Feyten said the new president’s “roots run deep.”

Noting Christopher’s “great passion for her work” and background working with boards, foundations, nonprofits, and corporations, Feyten sees “Dallas developing into even more of a destination city for those seeking higher education credentials” thanks to the president’s leadership.

Dallas campus known for educating nurses and allied health professionals

In her new role, Christopher will provide strategic leadership for the campus in the Southwestern Medical District.

Christopher will work with students, faculty, staff, and stakeholders such as alumni, community members, business and industry leaders, legislators, and policymakers to ensure Texas Woman’s is a key contributor to Dallas’ higher education landscape, TWU said.

“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 in a statement. “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.” 

Texas Woman’s University System was established in 2021 by the State of Texas as its seventh university system, pushing its Dallas and Houston campuses to transform, grow, and continue serving the state and its communities as the nation’s only system with a woman-focused mission.

The university said that among the system’s strategic priorities is installing leadership at both campuses and that a search is underway for a Houston campus president.

Texas Woman’s first established a presence in Dallas in 1954, when the nursing program was launched at Parkland Hospital.

Today, the T. Boone Pickens Institute of Health Sciences-Dallas Center is a 190,000-square-foot facility in the Southwestern Medical District. Since then, Texas Woman’s has become a notable contributor to the healthcare workforce, graduating an average of 2,000 nursing and allied health professionals annually.

TWU said that Dallas campus is home to the renowned Stroke Center that provides more than 5,000 clinical and neurorehabilitation hours annually at no cost to community members.

In addition to an MBA and graduate-level Healthcare Administration programs, TWU said the Dallas campus offers upper-level undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs in nursing, occupational therapy, and physical therapy.

Expertise in fundraising and community outreach

A veteran fundraiser and community relations professional, Christopher has held key positions in both areas for the last 25 years, cultivating many successful private-public sector partnerships and amassing extensive experience in attracting and stewarding major donors, grant making, program management, and public speaking.

During her 15-year tenure at Dallas-based Communities Foundation of Texas, Christopher rose to senior vice president and chief giving and community impact officer. She led several teams in fundraising efforts that set new benchmarks in gifts and funds created.

While at The Dallas Morning News/WFAA, Christopher held several positions over nearly 10 years in community relations aimed at building community engagement, raising brand awareness and coordinating charity events. Additional leadership roles for Christopher include involvement in the Dallas Regional Chamber, Dallas Summit, Junior League of Dallas, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association, and the Women’s Auxiliary at Children’s Medical Center, among other organizations.

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