Southern Methodist University has tapped Kit Sawers, the longtime leader of Klyde Warren Park, as the inaugural CEO and vice president of a new outreach hub dubbed the Dallas Office. Reporting directly to SMU President Jay Hartzell and set to begin on Aug. 3, Sawers will head an initiative that signals SMU’s push to tighten the links between the Hilltop and Dallas’ business, civic and nonprofit circles.
SMU is billing the Dallas Office as a single front door that connects students, faculty and research with Dallas employers and civic groups, according to The Dallas Morning News. The outlet reports that Sawers will leave Klyde Warren Park after eight years to launch the operation and notes that the downtown deck park already pulls in millions of visitors each year. University leaders say the office is designed to make it far easier for partners to tap internships, applied research projects and other ways to work directly with SMU.
SMU bets on a startup-style office
“This is a novel concept among academic institutions,” Hartzell said, describing the Dallas Office as “essentially a startup within a venerable institution,” per The Dallas Morning News. Sawers said she plans to spend her first 90 days listening to community leaders and campus partners so she can shape staffing and priorities and have the operation ready to hit the ground running in August.
Sawers' civic and campus background
Sawers earned her law degree from SMU’s Dedman School of Law in 1993 and earlier in her career ran the Tate Lecture Series, the Athletic Forum and the Doak Walker Award, according to SMU Magazine. That blend of campus experience, fundraising know-how and large-event programming helped turn Klyde Warren Park into a heavily programmed civic hub, the kind of network that SMU officials say can translate university resources into broader city impact.
Park transition and what it means for Dallas
Sawers’ move will kick off a national search for her successor, and local leaders have praised her stewardship while the park’s board has tapped experienced civic figures to help guide the transition. The park, a roughly 5.2- to 5.4-acre deck over Woodall Rodgers Freeway, has become a downtown magnet and has welcomed more than a million visitors annually, per the American Society of Landscape Architects.
What to watch next
Sawers is expected to formally start on Aug. 3, with an initial focus on building a team and zeroing in on priority partnerships that offer internships and applied learning. SMU plans to share more details about the Dallas Office’s staffing and location in the coming months as Sawers shifts from the park to the Hilltop.
