2024-2025 Featured speakers

Building on a history of excellence, SMU Ignited: Boldly Shaping Tomorrow is fueling the University’s success. As the third comprehensive campaign initiated under President Turner’s leadership, its $1.5 billion goal started as the largest fundraising target ever set by a private school in North Texas. The campaign for impact aims to build on SMU’s strengths to empower outstanding students, enrich teaching and research, and enhance campus and community.

During this multi-year comprehensive campaign, donors have already given more than $1.3 billion, including record-setting gifts to create the Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, to elevate the future of the Cox School of Business and to expand Ford Stadium as the Mustangs enter the ACC.

Years of investments and visionary work are advancing SMU as a leading center of teaching and research that accelerates knowledge, addresses significant issues, shapes students to be world changers and broadens community engagement. SMU ranks in the top 20% of the best national universities by U.S. News & World Report, with three of its graduate programs listed among the publication’s Top 50.

From its home in the global city of Dallas, SMU’s vibrant campus offers enrichment opportunities such as the Tate Lecture Series and the Meadows Museum to students and the wider community. SMU’s satellite campus in Taos, New Mexico, provides additional immersive learning experiences that foster a deeper connection with the natural world.

President Turner led efforts with the Board of Trustees to attract the George W. Bush Presidential Center, which opened at SMU in 2013. SMU and the Bush Presidential Center partner through fellowships, public lectures, the new George W. Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative and additional collaborations that bring together students, faculty and world-renowned experts to tackle pressing challenges. 

Beyond the campus, President Turner has served on the boards of the Dallas Citizens Council, the American Council on Education and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and he co-chaired the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for nearly 10 years. In Texas, he serves on the boards of the Methodist Health System Foundation and the Salvation Army of North Texas.

Before joining SMU, President Turner was the chancellor of the University of Mississippi. He previously served in administrative positions at the University of Oklahoma and Pepperdine University. A native of New Boston, Texas, he earned an A.A. degree from Lubbock Christian University, a B.S. in psychology and mathematics from Abilene Christian University and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. He and his wife, Gail, have two married daughters and five grandchildren.