Christine Pearson Wilmarth is the Director of Education Abroad at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas where she serves undergraduates by developing and coordinating international programs for academic credit, and by providing support services during and after the experience abroad.  She has served in this role since January 2020.

Christie is a native Dallasite who graduated from SMU in 2011 with a B.A. in International Studies, French, and Political Science.  She studied abroad twice as an undergraduate, once in Paris and once in the South of France.  She also spent a semester in Washington D.C. studying international law and organizations while interning at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. Upon graduation, Christie spent a year as a Teaching Assistant in France on the prestigious TAPIF program, sponsored by the French government.  She completed a Master of Liberal Studies degree with a dual concentration in Global Studies and Organizational Dynamics in Spring 2018.

Christie joined SMU as a staff member in January 2013 as a member of the TEDxSMU team.  She also worked with K-12 engineering education in the Lyle School of Engineering.  She joined SMU Abroad in September 2016, where she has served as Assistant Director, overseeing faculty-led and customized programs.  She served as co-Chair of Texas International Monthly (TIM) from August 2019 through June 2021, an association for abroad professionals working in institutions of higher learning in the State of Texas.

Christie joined the Junior League of Dallas in 2020 and began volunteering at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum. She is currently training to become a docent at the museum while completing her doctorate in education policy and leadership.