Christopher Ray, PhD

Christopher Ray, PhD, is the deputy provost for The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth. In this role, Dr. Ray is the lead executive of the provost’s leadership team. He assists in the supervision and management of all academic colleges, schools, departments and programs to deliver high-quality education, research and service. He also provides support in all matters related to university curricula and instruction, student services, academic resources and faculty affairs.

Prior to HSC, Dr. Ray served as dean of the College of Health Sciences at Texas Woman’s University, where he oversaw five departments, two schools and five on-site clinics across three campuses. Under Dr. Ray’s leadership, TWU’s School of Occupational Therapy was the top-ranked program in Texas and No. 17 in the nation in 2020, according to U.S. News & World Report. Dr. Ray helped secure a $2 million donation for that program’s naming rights and funded an endowed director for the school.

At TWU, Dr. Ray spearheaded the expansion of research, enhanced clinical learning opportunities for students, and capitalized on the many synergies across all programs. His leadership resulted in the launch of innovative academic programs in occupational therapy, nutrition and public health. He also led efforts to secure $100 million of legislative funding for a new health sciences building on the Denton campus that opens in fall 2025. A champion of values-focused leadership, he has more than 20 years of leadership experience in research development and academic affairs. Prior to TWU, Dr. Ray served from 2014 to 2016 as the associate dean for research in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation at The University of Texas at Arlington, where he also directed UTA’s Postural Control Laboratory and Center for Health Living and Longevity. He also increased research funding from $3 million to $18 million in only 18 months while also overseeing the curricular approval of numerous programs through the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

In 2018, Dr. Ray was a member of the Texas Governor’s Executive Development Program. He was twice nominated for the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award in 2011 and 2014, and he was also a nominee in 2011 for the UTA President’s Award for Excellence in Distance Education Teaching. He is active in many professional associations, including serving as a review panelist for the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Ray holds a doctoral degree in movement studies from the University of Georgia and earned both a master’s in human performance and sport studies and a bachelor’s in exercise science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He conducted his post-doctoral fellowship work at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Atlanta.