Monica Christopher is a nonprofit executive, and school officials hope her deep roots will help to grow the school. NBC 5’s Alanna Quillen has the details.
Texas Woman's University has reached a new milestone this week.
Longtime nonprofit executive and community relations veteran, Monica Christopher, has been named the inaugural president of TWU Dallas.
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WATCH HEREThursday marked her first day of school as staff, faculty, and students surprised her with a celebration and welcomed her to the latest endeavor for TWU.
"It was amazing to see so many people in the lobby and to see they are so excited about having the first ever president on this campus," Christopher told NBC 5.
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SIGN UP The new chapter comes two years after Texas lawmakers approved the Denton-based university to become a system school in 2021, over a century after the school's inception in 1901. TWU became the seventh university system in the state and is now the nation’s only system with a woman-focused mission.
It took more than 120 years for the university to finally reach the system status, which means its satellite campuses in Dallas and Houston are now considered its own schools with their own presidents. A search is still currently underway for a Houston campus president.
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"Certainly the 125 year history of this institution was very attractive to me because it's an opportunity to build on something that is obviously very well established and has an excellent reputation," said Christopher.
Christopher has 25 years of fundraising and nonprofit experience in Dallas, including a longtime stint as an executive at The Communities Foundation of Texas, a source for DFW philanthropy and the organization behind the annual North Texas Giving Day.
“Monica is an exceptional innovator and collaborator with a solid track record of successful fundraising and relationship building in Dallas, which will serve Texas Woman’s well in its quest to grow the Dallas campus,” Texas Woman’s Chancellor Carine Feyten said in a statement.
Despite not having an academic background, Christopher believes her deep roots in Dallas can help grow the campus into so much more.
"With the enrollment of 1,700 this spring, we feel like it's very realistic to double that in the next few years. The opportunities certainly exist. We just have to be really thoughtful and strategic about how we grow,” she said. "As I started conversations with Chancellor Feyten, she was very clear that she felt like for this position, they needed somebody who knows Dallas and who Dallas knows. Someone who has just built a lot of relationships over the years."
As president, Christopher will provide strategic leadership for the campus, which is located in the Southwestern Medical District and heavily focuses on medical majors. She will work with students, faculty, staff, and key stakeholders — including alumni, community members, business and industry leaders, legislators, and policymakers — to ensure Texas Woman’s is a key contributor to the higher education landscape in Dallas.
“Her Dallas roots run deep, and she has an extensive background working with boards, foundations, nonprofits, and corporations. 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 added. “Monica demonstrates great passion for her work and exudes a polished, energetic professionalism.”
TWU's presence in Dallas dates back to 1954 when the nursing program was launched at Parkland Hospital. Since then, it has grown into T. Boone Pickens Institute of Health Sciences Dallas Center. With the help of the Dallas campus, Texas Woman’s contributed to the healthcare workforce in big ways – graduating an average of 2,000 nursing and allied health professionals each year.
With a major shortage of workers in various healthcare careers post-pandemic, Christopher says further growth of the Dallas campus is crucial.
"We know as the population of this region grows, our health care needs will grow as well. And so all of the health care systems that serve this region need highly qualified and well-trained professionals to fill those roles,” she said.
TWU Dallas' new president will also focus on the Dallas Thrives initiative, a collaborative effort in Dallas to double the number of people who can earn a living wage in the city within a generation.
TWU has roughly 8,000 nursing alumni living and working in just the DFW area alone. Current statistics show that first-time pass rates for TWU students on the National Council Licensure Examination exceeds 96%, which is substantially above the national average of 87% and the state average of 91%.
