Maria Dixon Hall

Dr. Maria A. Dixon Hall is the Chief Cultural Intelligence Officer and Senior Advisor to the President at SMU, a role she has held since August 2020. In this capacity, she leads the strategic direction of campus-wide cultural intelligence initiatives, working closely with the President and Senior Administration. Dixon Hall holds a B.S. in Marketing from the University of Alabama, a Master of Divinity, a Master of Theology from Emory University, and a Ph.D. in Organizational Communication and Religion from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her research specializes in organizational communication in religious organizations and explores the intersection of identity, power and organizational culture. Before returning to the university setting, Dixon Hall spent a decade working in marketing management and sales for IBM, Dow Chemical USA, and Diamond Exteriors, Inc.

Dixon Hall has been widely recognized throughout her tenure at SMU for her unwavering passion for teaching and research. Her accolades include the prestigious 2005-2006 Willis M. Tate Award for service to the student body, the 2009 Golden Mustang for outstanding teaching and research by junior faculty and the 2010 Rotunda Award for Outstanding Teaching. In 2011, she received the "M" Award, SMU’s highest honor for exceptional service to the University. Further solidifying her dedication, Dixon Hall was named an Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Fellow in 2016, and in 2017, she earned the Thomas W. Tunks Distinguished University Citizen Award. In 2023, Dixon Hall's dedication to her students and scholarship was recognized by the 118th United States Congress, receiving the Congressional Foundation's Education Champion Award. 

 In an extension of her academic research in organizational culture, Dixon Hall began developing SMU’s Cultural Intelligence Initiative in 2016 as a practical, effective alternative to the traditional diversity paradigm. Utilizing an interdisciplinary framework, she extended the existing theory to create practical training that gives members of the SMU community the communication and behavioral tools to effectively learn, teach, collaborate and lead in the complex cultural contexts in the 21st century.

Dixon Hall's work with CIQ@SMU has been featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education, D Magazine, Dallas Morning News, and trade magazines such as Restaurant News. Her consulting clients have included Southwest Airlines, The AKOLA Project, The Dance Theatre of Harlem and the Multi-cultural Food and Hospitality Association. In consecutive years from 2021-2024, Dixon Hall has been recognized by D CEO as one of Dallas' Top 500 Business Leaders. 

Dixon Hall is an ordained deacon and conference leader in the Horizon Conference of the United Methodist Church.