Dawn Chaney was a three-sport athlete at Texas Woman's University in the 1960s; decades later, she gave $10 million for a new athletics complex

Dawn Chaney’s connection with Texas Woman’s University began as a student-athlete in the 1960s and has now grown into one of the university’s largest philanthropic legacies. A three-sport competitor during her time at TWU, Chaney later built a career in higher education and real estate. In 2026, she committed $10 million towards a new athletics complex that will carry her name. The approximately $30 million facility is expected to break ground in 2027, giving the university a new space designed around the needs of its growing athletics programme.What shaped Dawn Chaney’s connection with Texas Woman’s University Chaney’s relationship with Texas Woman’s University stretches across three degrees and several decades. According to TWU’s Pioneer Scholarship System, she is a three-time alumna of the university and earned degrees connected with kinesiology. The university’s July 2026 announcement also notes that she was a three-sport athlete during the 1960s, making her later support for athletics closely connected to her own experience as a student.Her professional life eventually moved beyond sport. As reported by TWU in 2022, Chaney spent 17 years teaching in higher education, working at institutions including Texas A&I University, the State University of New York, the University of Delaware and Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. She later entered real estate investment and developed Chaney Properties.Her career became a foundation for philanthropyChaney’s work in property development grew from a single-family property she acquired when she started Chaney Properties in 1980, according to the university’s scholarship profile. The business later expanded into single-family, multi-family, commercial, industrial and warehouse properties, with a particular focus on historic properties around downtown Greensboro.Her connection with TWU also remained active. The university’s 2022 report states that Chaney gave $100,000 to establish two $50,000 scholarship endowments for undergraduate and graduate students. The awards were intended to support students studying exercise physiology and exercise science, as well as students committed to women’s leadership.The Pioneer Scholarship System records those as the Dr. Dawn S. Chaney Undergraduate Scholarship Endowment and the Dr. Dawn S. Chaney Graduate Scholarship Endowment. They support students in the School of Health Promotion and Kinesiology, with preference for exercise science students and those demonstrating financial need.What will the new athletics complex provideThe planned facility is designed to address practical pressures created by the growth of TWU athletics. The university says its varsity sports programme expanded from 5 sports to 9 over six years, while the number of student-athletes more than doubled. That growth has placed greater demand on existing training and support spaces.According to TWU’s 2026 announcement, student-athletes currently share Pioneer Hall with academic kinesiology programmes. This has contributed to scheduling conflicts, crowded training areas and limited practice opportunities. Growing teams have also increased demand for locker rooms, weight-training areas and sports medicine facilities.The proposed 30,000- to 35,000-square-foot complex is intended to separate those functions and provide more room for athletes. Planned facilities include an auxiliary practice gym, locker rooms for five teams, a larger weight room capable of accommodating up to 40 athletes at once and a sports medicine clinic staffed by certified athletic trainers.The project reflects a wider rise in Pioneer athleticsThe building is being planned at a time when TWU’s teams have been achieving notable results. The university reports 5 conference championships, 3 regional championships and 5 national championships during the recent period of expansion. Its athletics programme has also received three consecutive conference Academic Excellence Awards, along with the 2025 NCAA Division II President’s Award for Academic Excellence.Community Impact’s report on the planned $30 million facility places the project within this broader expansion of the university’s athletics programme. The new building is intended not only to provide additional training space but also to give the programme room to accommodate future growth.TWU also expects improved facilities to support activities beyond regular competition. The university has identified summer camps, youth programming and community engagement as areas that have been constrained by existing space.Chaney’s wider TWU legacy continues to growThe $10 million athletics gift is not Chaney’s first major contribution to the university. TWU says the new commitment brings her into its top 5 donors and adds to earlier support that includes two kinesiology scholarships, the Chaney West Commons in the Health Sciences Center and founding support for the Texas Woman’s Athletics Hall of Fame.The new athletics complex will bear Chaney’s name as a result of the $10 million commitment, according to TWU. The university expects construction to begin in 2027.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.