About Chancellor Feyten

Carine M. Feyten, PhD has served as chancellor of the Texas Woman’s University System and president of Texas Woman’s University (TWU) since 2014. Founded in 1901, TWU is a doctoral research university with campuses in Denton, Dallas, and Houston, serving approximately 16,000 students, a third of whom pursue graduate degrees. In 2021, the state established the Texas Woman’s University System, the first such system in the nation. Texas Woman’s is also the largest public university with a woman-focused mission.

Chancellor Feyten is deeply committed to amplifying the social impact that emerges from the distinctive environment at TWU where women comprise nearly 90% of the student body. She has made strategic investments to extend the university’s mission beyond academics, focusing on whole-person development through themes of health and wellbeing, including financial literacy, nutrition, mental health, and an emphasis on finding one’s purpose in life. With women making so many foundational decisions in the family and organizational development, such a focus will ripple far beyond the traditional impact of intellectual development. Known for coining the phrase campus with a heart, Dr. Feyten emphasizes Texas Woman’s culture of care and excellence across research, facilities, student services, and teaching and learning. Her leadership fosters a supportive environment that prepares graduates to succeed in today’s complex global society.

Key achievements during her tenure include:

• Championed the university’s top-tier faculty and staff whose work garnered the 2025 Wall Street Journal rankings, where TWU placed #2 in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and #8 overall in Texas, building on past top rankings in The Economist, Forbes, and Dallas Business Journal.
• Consistently earned top rankings in the nation for student diversity by U.S. News & World Report and earned the Seal of Excelencia in 2023, placing Texas Woman’s among an elite group of 39 institutions recognized for their commitment to serving and supporting Latinx students.
• Awarded the prestigious 2023 ACE/Fidelity Investments Award for Institutional Transformation in recognition of the university’s outcomes achieved through Learn to Thrive: Strategic Plan 2022 and now Momentum: Strategic Plan 2028.
• Spearheaded over $460 million in infrastructure projects through state investments and public-private partnerships, which have transformed the university with key developments such as a health sciences center, a student union, a cutting-edge scientific research commons, and residence and dining halls.
• Established and evolved a center for women in business into the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership through private and public investments, currently at $17 million per biennium and with a statewide focus on women entrepreneurs, women in government, and student leadership.
• More than tripled the value of TWU Foundation assets and surpassed the university’s first comprehensive fundraising campaign goal of $125 million two years ahead of schedule, including the university’s largest gifts: $30 million from Merrilee Alexander Kick, $15 million from the Doswell Foundation, $10 million from Mary Stanton, and $27 million from Richard Woodcock.
• Launched the Doswell School of Aeronautical Sciences, a groundbreaking initiative to address the underrepresentation of women in aviation, an industry where only 5% of commercial pilots are women​—one of the numerous new academic programs ranging from a mariachi program and musical theater program in the arts to environmental science programs in biology to Spanish medical interpretation, and even new doctoral programs such as the PhD in education, leadership, and organization in the College of Professional Education.
• Hired inaugural presidents in Dallas and Houston to lead transformation and growth on those campuses, further strengthening TWU’s ability to serve these dynamic urban communities​.
• Campaigned for the university’s first college naming with the Merrilee Alexander Kick College of Business and Entrepreneurship, which was established during her tenure and now holds AACSB, the gold standard of business school accreditation, and CAHME accreditation for its master’s of healthcare administration degree.
• Finalized an agreement with Bezos Academy to open a tuition-free, Montessori-inspired preschool, serving children of TWU’s student-parents and Denton families. Set to open in fall 2025, Bezos Academy Denton will feature six classrooms for 120 students, providing hands-on learning opportunities for TWU education students and addressing the childcare needs of the community through a joint project supported by the City of Denton​.
• Initiated a visual identity refresh that coalesced in official colors, a family of visual marks around a bold new logo, a mascot, a tartan, and a social media and website overhaul—all through a grassroots approach involving students, alumni, faculty, and staff.
• Expanded the athletic program from 5 to 9 sports, enhancing student engagement and school spirit while providing more opportunities for women to pioneer in athletics, all while maintaining the record of academic excellence—more than 80 consecutive semesters with student-athletes’ average GPA above a 3.0—and historic achievements such multiple national championships in gymnastics and national DII championship game in basketball—all 9 teams competed postseason in 2023-24. 

Her board service includes membership in over ten regional and national boards, such as chairing the Community Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Additionally, Dr. Feyten is a member of the Philosophical Society of Texas. In recognition of her contributions to higher education, she was honored with the 2023 Dallas Historical Society’s Award for Excellence in Education​.

A native of Belgium, Dr. Feyten holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Education with an emphasis in Second Language Acquisition and Instructional Technology from the University of South Florida, along with an M.A. in English, Dutch, and Education, and a B.A. in Germanic Philology from the Université Catholique de Louvain. She is fluent in five languages.