Billings named VP for Development
By Mike Jackson
Amanda Billings, who led UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Office of Development during the Building the Future of Medicine fundraising campaign for the new William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital, has been named Vice President for Development.
Ms. Billings reports directly to UT Southwestern President Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky. She assumed her new title in November 2014. Ms. Billings, who joined UT Southwestern in 2010, had served as Interim Vice President for Development for nearly three years.
“Since January 2010, Amanda has served UT Southwestern with distinction, assuming responsibility as the Interim Vice President in February 2012,” Dr. Podolsky said in a campus-wide announcement. “Amanda will lead UT Southwestern Medical Center’s philanthropic strategies, which allow the medical center to advance its missions to conduct world-class research, educate tomorrow’s health care leaders, and deliver the highest quality patient care.”
Ms. Billings first served as Director of Development Communications before taking on additional duties as Interim Vice President. “She has done an outstanding job as our interim leader and I am confident that with her new appointment she will lead our development efforts to even greater success,” Dr. Podolsky added.
Shortly after starting her professional career, Ms. Billings decided to focus on service with non-profit organizations after working in the for-profit arena.
“I know it sounds clichéd to say that you want to do something that makes a difference, but for me it was true,” she said. “I just wanted to do something that I loved and was fulfilling.”
Before joining UT Southwestern, Ms. Billings spent 13 years leading communications and marketing efforts for the American Red Cross, both regionally and nationally. Early in her career, she worked for The Commonwealth Fund, a private health care foundation in New York City.
Ms. Billings said she and the Office of Development staff derive a great deal of satisfaction from helping ensure that UT Southwestern has the financial resources to do the “amazing work that goes on every day.”
“I am incredibly privileged to be a part of it,” she said, adding that any Development successes have come through the enduring support the medical center has received from generous donors.
“The great work that goes on here would not be possible without the incredible generosity of this community, North Texas, and beyond,” she said. “We have donors from all over the country who support the medical center.”
A Texas native and graduate of the Episcopal School of Dallas, Ms. Billings holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Austin College in Sherman, and had the opportunity to intern at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board as part of her college studies. She also has studied English literature on the graduate level at the University of North Texas.
