75 Years of Vision
The Lasting Gift of Southwestern Medical Foundation
Part I I : 1980 to 1999 Hearts (and Minds) of Gold
The Nobel Prize ( actual size )
Hearts and Minds The lasting gift of Southwestern Medical Foundation began in the heart and mind of Dr. Edward H. Cary. But for it to grow into something truly remarkable, many people – extraordinary people with generous hearts and brilliant minds – had to become convinced of its noble cause. And as they were, one by one, something important happened. A tipping point was reached, when it was no longer a question of “will we make it?” but rather “how far will we go?” Such was the transition for the Foundation and the medical school between the years 1980 and 1999. It was an exceptional 20 years – a period of time when Kathleen M. Gibson
a quality medical school became a magnet in our community for generous hearts
Pr e s i d e nt
and was able to attract from the world many of its most brilliant medical minds. In a sense, it was a golden era. Hearts of gold were found in generous donors determined to elevate the human spirit by helping to end human suffering. And exceptional minds struck gold – not once, but four times – in the form of science’s highest achievement: the Nobel Prize, awarded to researchers whose curiosity challenged them to ask farsighted questions and then, incredibly, answer them. Lastly, during this period Southwestern Medical Foundation celebrated its golden anniversary – 50 years of unprecedented achievement and support. Because this community of extraordinary people worked together, we shouldn’t be surprised at the outcome: the establishment of an academic medical center second to none. Our feature story is not meant to be an exhaustive recounting of our history. It is, rather, an opportunity to retell a few stories of people and impact, of community support and results, of inspiring vision coming to fruition in a remarkably short period of time.
S hare INSPIRE
remember
CAPTURE A MEMORY
MAKE A DIFFERENCE ADD pay tribute HONOR
YOUR
VOICE
reminisce
In producing this issue, two things became readily apparent: 1) There is so much history to tell that we cannot possibly begin to tell it all, and 2) We know there are more wonderful stories that deserve to be told. I want to invite you to contribute your stories to add to the rich history of the Foundation as we continue to explore our archives and make plans to publish new stories as they are known. On the back cover you will learn more about how you can share your recollections with us. Thank you beyond measure for your friendship and support.
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
Southwestern Medical Foundation Officers, Trustees and Honorary Trustees OFFICERS Robert B. Rowling, Chairman Kathleen M. Gibson, President Donald W. Seldin, MD, VP – Medical Center Relations
Brian Grosheider, VP – Finance Katy Sinor, Secretary
BOARD OF TRUSTEES John L. Adams Rafael M. Anchia Charles Anderson Charlotte Jones Anderson Ralph W. Babb, Jr. Alice Worsham Bass Doris L. Bass Peter Beck Jill C. Bee Gil J. Besing Robert W. Best *Jan Hart Black Cecilia G. Boone Diane M. Brierley Robert W. Brown, MD Leland R. Burk Stephen Butt W. Plack Carr, Jr. Jeffrey A. Chapman Nita P. Clark Rita C. Clements *Mary McDermott Cook *David R. Corrigan Harlan R. Crow *Robert H. Dedman, Jr. Joseph M. DePinto
Jennifer Eagle Timothy Eller Matrice Ellis-Kirk Sandra Street Estess Robert A. Estrada Roy Gene Evans Andersen C. Fisher Richard W. Fisher Stuart Fitts Kay Carter Fortson Alan D. Friedman Judy Gibbs Kathleen M. Gibson Marshal D. Goldberg, DDS, MS Joseph M. ( Jody) Grant Satish Gupta Rolf R. Haberecht, PhD Ronald W. Haddock Nancy S. Halbreich *David C. Haley Kathryn W. Hall LaQuita C. Hall Paul W. Harris Linda W. Hart *Jeffrey M. Heller
Julie K. Hersh J. Hale Hoak Richard E. Hoffman, MD David B. Holl T. Curtis Holmes, Jr. *James R. Huffines Hunter L. Hunt Kay Bailey Hutchison Rex V. Jobe Eric Johnson Judith K. Johnson Robert L. Kaminski Gary C. Kelly Harlan Korenvaes Peter A. Kraus Laurence H. Lebowitz Samuel D. Loughlin Bobby B. Lyle S. Todd Maclin Gloria Eulich Martindale William S. McIntyre, IV Pauline Medrano Howard M. Meyers David B. Miller Kay Y. Moran Jennifer T. Mosle
Charles E. Nearburg Ray Nixon, Jr. James C. Oberwetter Teresa Haggerty Parravano Lee Ann Pearse, MD Carlos G. Peña Guillermo Perales T. Boone Pickens *Daniel K. Podolsky, MD Richard R. Pollock Todd A. Pollock, MD Carolyn Perot Rathjen Michael S. Rawlings Kelly E. Roach Linda Robuck *Catherine M. Rose Matthew K. Rose William E. “Billy” Rosenthal *Robert B. Rowling Stephen Sands Steven S. Schiff Robert J. Schlegel George E. Seay Debbie Scripps George A. Shafer Florence Shapiro
Thomas J. Engibous Robert T. Enloe, III Jerry Farrington Robert I. Fernandez Lee Fikes David L. Florence Edwin S. Flores, PhD Terry J. Flowers, EdD Robert S. Folsom Gerald J. Ford Gerald W. Fronterhouse Printice L. Gary William R. Goff Joe M. Haggar, III Howard Hallam Charles M. Hansen, Jr. Joe V. Hawn, Jr. Frederick B. Hegi Thomas O. Hicks Lyda Hill
Laurence E. Hirsch James M. Hoak Sally S. Hoglund Keith W. Hughes Walter J. Humann Ray L. Hunt Philip R. Jonsson Darrell E. Jordan Dale V. Kesler Gary Kusin David M. Laney Wright L. Lassiter, Jr., EdD Thomas C. Leppert Irvin L. Levy John I. Levy Wendy A. Lopez Sarah Losinger Wales H. Madden, Jr. Ann E. Margolin Margaret McDermott
John D. McStay Mike A. Myers Harvey R. Mitchell W. A. “Tex” Moncrief, Jr. Susan Byrne Montgomery Cipriano Munoz J. Fulton Murray, Jr. Joseph B. Neuhoff Jack Pew, Jr. J. Blake Pogue Kathryn Priddy Caren H. Prothro Mary Stewart Ramsey Leonard M. Riggs, Jr., MD Jean W. Roach John L. Roach Lizzie Horchow Routman Pete Schenkel John Field Scovell Paul R. Seegers
Karen L. Shuford Ted C. Skokos Nicole G. Small Emmitt J. Smith *William T. Solomon William S. Spears, PhD Catherine B. Taylor Richard K. Templeton Michelle R. Thomas *Jere W. Thompson, Jr. McHenry T. Tichenor John C. Tolleson Lisa Troutt W. Kelvin Walker *J. Thomas Walter, Jr. Jim W. Walton, DO Kelcy L. Warren Carol R. West George W. Wharton, MD Kern Wildenthal, MD, PhD Martha S. Williams Kneeland C. Youngblood, MD * Executive Committee
HONORARY TRUSTEES Edward M. Ackerman Sara Melnick Albert Ruth Sharp Altshuler Barry Andrews Gilbert Aranza Marilyn H. Augur David W. Biegler Gene H. Bishop Albert C. Black, Jr. George W. Bramblett, Jr. Daniel H. Branch Jean Ann Brock Stuart M. Bumpas Edward H. Cary, III Dan W. Cook, III Berry R. Cox Edwin R. Daniels Joe D. Denton Robert J. DiNicola Thomas M. Dunning
2
Carl Sewell, Jr. Lisa K. Simmons Roger T. Staubach Paul T. Stoffel Joanne H. Stroud, PhD J. Liener Temerlin Ellen C. Terry Gifford O. Touchstone Jim L. Turner Jack C. Vaughn, Jr. John J. Veatch, Jr. Kent Waldrep W. Ray Wallace Jimmy Westcott Laura L. Wheat Jon B. White Evelyn Whitman-Dunn Terry M. Wilson Donald Zale
contents
Cover Story
75 Years of Vision
Part II : 1980 to 1999
A Defining Decade 1980 to 1989
4
Aided by support from the Foundation and growing interest from the Dallas philanthropic community, the medical school gains international acclaim with three Nobel Prize winners. Advances in biomedical science accelerate our understanding of the mechanisms of health and disease, while the idea of disease prevention firmly enters the public consciousness. Despite unexpected economic challenges, it is a decade of remarkable achievement.
By Leaps and Bounds 1990 to 1999 An unprecedented fundraising drive significantly accelerates the development of the North Campus and marks the start of a significant leap forward in biomedical research. The medical school makes a solid contribution to the most remarkable scientific project ever undertaken by mankind. An important clinical initiative comes of age as the promise of Zale Lipshy Hospital becomes a reality, and a fourth Nobel Prize is won.
EDITOR Kim Brayton the BraytonGroup EDITORIAL / RESEARCH DIRECTOR Traci Beeson
40
Features
C R E AT I V E / D E S I G N D I R E C T OR Kim Brayton WRITERS Kim Brayton Various authors and sources* Randal Daugherty
68 A Grand Celebration
80 33 Years of Wisdom
82 Legacy of Giving
The Foundation celebrates its 75th anniversary in style.
William T. Solomon is honored for over three decades of service.
Looking back on bequests made in the 1980s and 1990s.
84 What’s Next
86 Annual Meeting
88 New Trustees
The second and third programs in the Foundation’s “Leading the Conversation on Health” series.
Robert B. Rowling is elected Chairman of the Foundation.
2014 – 2015 Trustees are recognized for their leadership, and 2015 –2016 Trustees are announced.
PHOTOGRAPHERS Archival resources* David Gresham Steve Foxall * see page 95
Every Issue
Editorial comments and contributions are welcome. Send correspondence to: Southwestern Medical Foundation Parkland Hall at Old Parkland 3889 Maple Avenue, Suite 100 Dallas, Texas 75219
1 President’s Letter 92 In The News UT Southwestern medical students thank their benefactors, the Foundation donates $7.5 million to UT Southwestern to help further global leadership in neuroscience, and an Ida M. Green Visiting Professor continues to inspire women in biomedical science.
96 A Moment in Time
info @ swmedical.org p 214-351- 6143 f 214-352-9874
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
“ What shines through
all this work is a dedication to quality, an unrelenting drive to do work of the highest caliber, with an imaginative overtone – so that the studies do not simply repeat the work of others but forge new domains of learning.” Donald M. Seldin, MD Chairman of Internal Medicine, Southwestern Medical School The University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas ( at the time)
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
A DEFINING
DECADE 1980
O
TO
1989
n December 9, 1979, a commission of eminent scientists certified the global eradication of smallpox — which was later endorsed by the World Health Assembly
on May 8, 1980. Beyond ending centuries of human suffering, it was an iconic testament to what medical science could achieve. A disease that had ravaged the world, the nation and the city of Dallas just 90 years ago was no more. Gone, too, were many archaic and naive notions of disease and patient care. In their place, revolutionary advances in biomedical science were accelerating our understanding of the mechanisms of human health and disease. Nothing seemed impossible since the imagination-igniting discovery of DNA. Molecular biology — a convergence of biochemistry, genetics, microbiology, virology and physics — had become a powerful platform from The molecular basis of biological activity became essential to understanding the nature of disease.
which to understand disease and seemed to hold unlimited potential for improving human health. In academic circles across the country, UT Southwestern was beginning to be recognized as a premier, research-intensive
medical school. In Dallas, the medical center was committed to making public health and community outreach a central component of its mission. By 1980, hundreds of its clinicians were the practicing faculty at Parkland, Children’s Medical Center, Scottish Rite and the Veteran’s Administration Hospital. Southwestern Medical Foundation, after founding and nurturing the medical school’s development for nearly four decades, was a conduit to promote the school to the Dallas business and philanthropic communities.
A team of UT Southwestern physicians performing surgery at Parkland. By 1980, medical school faculty were teaching and practicing medicine at Parkland, Children’s Medical Center, Scottish Rite and the VA Hospital.
Charles C. Sprague, MD, President of the Medical Center, observed that annual grants from the Foundation “enabled the school to bring to its staff and to hold some of the best of the nation’s medical teaching and medical research talent.” S O U T H W E S T E R N M E D I C A L P E R S P E C T I V E S . F A L L 2 015
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
Led by Donald Seldin, MD, the Department of Internal Medicine had risen to a position of preeminence and was internationally respected. Encouraged by Seldin and Sprague, the departments of biochemistry, cell biology, microbiology and physiology were thriving. In 1979, Joseph Goldstein, MD, Chairman of the Department of Molecular Genetics, approached Alfred G. Gilman, MD, PhD, who was working at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, about a position as Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology. The two had
Don Seldin, MD, with students.
been postdoctoral fellows in the same lab at the National Institutes of Health a decade earlier. At the time, Gilman was immersed in research and editing the sixth edition of the famous text his father had co-authored: Goodman and Gilman’s The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, long considered the “bible” of pharmacology textbooks. “I was working my tail off on the book and was much too busy to even think about a new job,” Gilman said. Then in 1981, Seldin came calling. “Very few say no to Dr. Seldin,” Gilman recalled, “and I arrived in Dallas to chair the Department of Pharmacology.” Gilman in turn was able to attract top researchers, elevating his department to among the best in the country. The most universal and respected
clinical pharmacologists, clinical
medical text in pharmacology, The
research professionals and pharmacists
Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics by Goodman and Gilman is used
Gilman named his son Alfred
for the effective prescribing of drugs
Goodman Gilman, who became Chair of
in daily medicine and considered
the Department of Pharmacology
the “bible of pharmacology.”
at UT Southwestern in 1981. Michael
It was co-authored by Louis S. Alfred Gilman, PhD, father of Alfred G. Gilman, MD, PhD, and co-author of Goodman and Gilman’s The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics. The title page shown is from the first edition.
rely on the book.
Brown, MD, once quipped that Gilman
Goodman, MD, and Alfred Gilman,
( the son) “ is probably the only person
PhD (shown at left), of Yale University
who was ever named after a textbook.”
School of Medicine. First published in 1941, the book is in its 12th edition. Physicians of all
Alfred G. Gilman, MD, PhD, served as primary editor of the textbook in 1980, 1985 and 1990.
therapeutic and surgical specialties,
W
hile many people carried the cause of the medical school forward in the 1980s, for
decades to come, as it had for decades prior, UT Southwestern would owe much to the passion and personality of Philip O’Bryan (P. O’B.) Montgomery, Jr., MD. Dr. Montgomery was a Professor of Pathology and Associate Dean. Early in his career, he had attracted the attention of the research world by being among the first to characterize fibrinoid, the change in the blood vessel walls of people with high blood pressure. Peter O’Donnell’s first involvement with UT Southwestern came in the mid-1950s when Montgomery approached him for help in purchasing equipment. A friend of Montgomery's from high school, O’Donnell and his wife Edith had by now transformed their collective wealth — his success as a securities investor and her inheritance — into the O’Donnell Foundation. 6
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
198 0 Kern Wildenthal, MD, PhD, succeeds Fred Bonte, MD, as Dean of the Medical School. At 38, Wildenthal is the youngest dean of any American medical school.
____________
After stepping down as Dean of the Medical School, a position he had held since 1973, Fred Bonte, MD, becomes head of the newly established Center for Nuclear Medicine. Nuclear medicine scanners had made it possible to study blood flow in a noninvasive manner, especially following a stroke. From 1980, Bonte served as the Director of the Nuclear Medicine Center. He is currently a Senior Investigator with the Alzheimer’s Disease Center. Frederick J. Bonte, MD
____________ William B. Neaves, PhD, is appointed Dean of the UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Neaves began his career at the medical school in 1972 as an Assistant Professor in Cell Biology. “I’d never been to a place where there was a greater sense of community spirit and a sort of delight in what each was doing and the successes that one’s colleagues were achieving,” he says. William B. Neaves, PhD
____________
Roger Unger, MD, Professor of Internal Medicine, is awarded the Claude Bernard Medal, the highest award given by the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.
____________
UT System Board of Regents approves new building projects, including an ambulatory care teaching center and two additional floors of the Fred F. Florence Bioinformation Center.
____________
Emmet J. Conrad, MD, the first African-American surgeon on the staff of St. Paul Hospital, is elected Chief of Staff.
Elsewhere in the world, Frederick Sanger, PhD, a British biochemist, wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a method to
sequence DNA molecules, known as the
“Sanger Method.” It is a major breakthrough that allows long stretches of DNA to be rapidly and accurately sequenced.
It is a foretaste of things to come.
Frederick Sanger, PhD
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
1981
Among other notable civic and business leaders, William T. Solomon joins the board of Southwestern Medical Foundation.
____________
In 1981, a group of women in Dallas commit themselves to taking on heart disease by initiating the Sweetheart Ball, which becomes one of the most prestigious charity events in Dallas. Proceeds from the Sweetheart Ball’s early years establish the Gail Griffiths Hill Chair in Cardiology at UT Southwestern, named for a founding member of the group. Later, the funds are The Gail Griffiths Hill Chair in Cardiology, established by proceeds from the Sweetheart Ball, is currently held by Sharon Reimold, MD.
directed to the Sweetheart Ball Fund for Cardiology Research. The endowment fuels the search for new therapies to prevent and cure heart disease, including treatments for those genetically predisposed. Since its inception, the Sweetheart Ball has raised more than $22 million for cardiovascular research at UT Southwestern.
____________
UT Southwestern forms the Center for Human Nutrition, jointly funded by the medical school and the O’Donnell Foundation.
____________ ____________
Morris Ziff, MD, is named first Ashbel Smith Professor, the highest academic tribute in the UT System. Dallas County taxpayers approve a major expansion and enhancement of Parkland Memorial Hospital, the primary teaching site of UT Southwestern, enabling a significant upgrade of clinical services.
8
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
Later on, Montgomery needed funding to pursue his ideas for research and education. He reached out to Eugene McDermott, a family friend and co-founder of Texas Instruments. Montgomery had made lasting friendships with McDermott and had introduced Cecil Green and Erik Jonsson to the medical school as well — all three men who had founded Texas Instruments. With his genuinely caring nature and endearing enthusiasm, Montgomery formed meaningful relationships with the three men, their wives and families that would have a profound impact on the school’s development for years to come. Montgomery possessed a keen eye for talent. O’Donnell recalls that in 1980 Montgomery told him, “Brown and Goldstein will win the Nobel Prize.” “I watched my friend Phil Montgomery devote half a century to serving UT Southwestern....He recruited students and faculty and planned campuses. He was a money-raiser and a money-giver. He was knowledgeable, analytical, scientific, attentive and caring. In short, he was a perfect doctor,”
Philip O’Bryan “P. O’B.” Montgomery, Jr., MD, came to Southwestern Medical School to practice and teach pathology in 1952. Montgomery played a central role in developing the Department of Pathology.
O’Donnell said.
B
City of Dallas Population
y 1980, the population of Dallas had
reached 900,000, doubling in size since Parkland had first opened its doors in 1954 on a site adjacent to the medical school campus. Over the years, the rapid growth exceeded the funding required. A tipping point had now been reached and, as a result, Parkland entered a period of rapid decline. The public hospital’s financial resources had been tapped. Funding to
1950
434,462
1960
679,684
1970
844,401
1980
904,078
Dallas went from the 22nd largest city in the country in 1950 to the 7th largest city by 1980.
upgrade the facilities, let alone properly maintain them, wasn’t available, nor was there money to add nursing and janitorial staff. Parkland’s deterioration also put the medical school in a precarious situation. For decades, Parkland had added tremendous value as a teaching hospital, but as it continued to struggle financially, many of the school’s top clinicians began to leave. The situation was dire.
“ I believe Charlie Sprague reached the high point of his many
years of exemplary leadership when he made the decision to reach out to the community for help in reversing the deterioration of Parkland.”
Kern Wildenthal, MD, PhD
President Emeritus of the Medical Center
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
Sprague emerged to mobilize Dallas. He spoke to the Dallas Citizen’s Council and the Dallas Chamber of Commerce. He involved civic leaders Ralph Rogers and Erik Jonsson; later, Kay Bailey Hutchinson and Paul Bass helped engage political and business leaders. The community was stepping forward, together. The Dallas Morning News and Dallas Times Herald promoted the idea that restoring Parkland was critical. The newspapers not only explained the problem but helped to educate the public on what could easily have been Ralph B. Rogers was an American industrialist, philanthropist and PBS executive, called the “Founding Father of the Public Broadcasting Service.” During World War II, he contracted rheumatic fever and discovered during his 14 months of fighting the disease that it was responsible for killing more children than all other children’s diseases combined. “I refuse to accept that this massive illness cannot be conquered,” he said at the time. He raised money, enlisted the support of drug
Ralph B. Rogers
seen as an unpopular solution — raising taxes to increase Parkland’s annual budget. The Citizen’s Council, led by Rogers, assessed the severity of the situation and recommended an $80 million bond issue to upgrade the hospital. With the passing of the bond issue, Rogers would add helping to
companies and laboratories, and found scientists
save Parkland Hospital to his long list of
who would accept his financial help to work on the
notable accomplishments.
disease. Eventually this effort led to the discovery that the disease was linked to strep throat. Through the development of antibiotics, rheumatic fever was all but wiped out. After World War II, he moved to Texas and built Kenilworth Corporation, which later became Texas Industries, a concrete and building materials firm. Rogers retired in 1975 but continued to pursue
Once new political leadership and new funding was put into place, Parkland began to reverse its downward trend almost overnight. “If the community hadn’t acted as quickly
philanthropic activities and civic causes, especially
as it did to reinvigorate Parkland, the medical
medicine and education. In Dallas, he was credited
school, as well as the hospital, would have
with saving the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
W
been seriously damaged,” Wildenthal said.
hile the genetic and molecular basis for understanding the nature of disease had
captured enormous scientific interest, another way of thinking about human health had solidly emerged: that of prevention. Perceptions of what constituted a healthy lifestyle were evolving. No longer were people who ate fresh fruits, vegetables and whole-grain bread considered “health nuts.” It now seemed common sense that people who ate and drank in moderation, didn’t smoke and exercised regularly had a better chance to live out their natural lifespan. In London, a noted epidemiologist named Geoffrey Rose asserted that the Western diet, high in fat and salt and low in fiber, was responsible for the growing epidemic of heart disease. By the start of the 1980s, many Americans had come to believe that fat — particularly the saturated fat found in meat and dairy products — was the primary problem with their diet. Studies from around the world spawned countless theories and books on diet and nutrition and their various effects on disease prevention and overall health. 10
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
1982
A gift of $100,000 from Southwestern Medical Foundation establishes the Charles Cameron Sprague Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science in honor of Dr. Sprague’s 15th anniversary at UT Southwestern. The gift is made with the intent to grow it to $500,000 over the next 5 years.
____________
Drs. Jonathan Uhr and Ellen Vitetta report in Nature the results of their study of a cancer-seeking antibody that removes cancer cells from the bone marrow of mice.
Ralph Rogers, working as Parkland’s Board Chairman, asks Ron Anderson, MD, an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Medical Director
of Parkland’s emergency room, to take the helm. The request follows the approval of Dallas County taxpayers for an $80 million bond offering that will expand and reinvigorate Parkland’s aging facilities.
Anderson initially turns him down, but Rogers convinces him that
rather than caring for a few people each day he could care for hundreds and influence the health care of hundreds of thousands more.
Anderson promises Rogers five years but goes on to tirelessly
champion the rights of all Dallas citizens to receive quality health care for the next 29 years.
Under his leadership, Parkland becomes known as one of the finest
public hospitals in the country, a center of excellence for the treatment of trauma and burn victims, and receives national acclaim for its community outreach programs. Ron Anderson, MD, in front of
Parkland’s emergency entrance.
In 1997, Anderson recalled that Rogers called him to his bedside as
he lay dying: “I know I’ve just got another couple of days, but I want
to talk to you. I think you made a really good decision...how many years has it been now — that five years?”
Anderson told him it’d been 17 years. Rogers continued, “I wanted you
to know before I die that I was right,” and then added, “Now go on.”
“...Dr. Ron Anderson’s dedication to the needs of the most
vulnerable of our community was unwavering. Through his stewardship of Parkland, in partnership with the physicians of UT Southwestern, legions have received care and comfort not available to them otherwise.”
Daniel K. Podolsky, MD
President, UT Southwestern
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
1983
For Southwestern Medical Foundation, George L. MacGregor is elected Chairman Emeritus, James W. Aston is elected Chairman and James W. Keay is elected President.
____________
A challenge grant by Southwestern Medical Foundation is matched by the Meadows Foundation to establish a state-of-the-art cardiac laboratory at Parkland Hospital.
____________
Southwestern Medical Foundation establishes a $100,000 scholarship fund honoring the late Harold B. Sanders, Sr., who was an original member of the Board of Trustees, serving for 41 years and as its general counsel for 35 years. His son, Charles A. Sanders, MD, was a 1955 graduate of UT Southwestern and would later become Chairman and CEO of Glaxo Inc., a leading researchbased pharmaceutical firm. “UT Southwestern is the institution that shaped me Ann and Charles A. Sanders, MD
as a physician, and I will always be very grateful for the wonderful experiences it afforded me,” Dr. Sanders said. Dr. Sanders' brother, Judge Barefoot Sanders, would preside over the desegregation of Dallas Independent School District.
____________ As a result of lobbying by George Buchanan, MD, UT Southwestern Professor of Pediatrics, and Donald Fernbach, MD, then Chief of Hematology and Oncology at Houston’s Texas Children’s Hospital, the State of Texas begins screening all newborn babies for sickle cell disease. The screening proves extremely accurate and allows for early, preventive measures critical to extending life. George Buchanan, MD
Two separate research groups, an American team at the National Cancer Institute and a French team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, independently declare that a novel retrovirus may have been infecting AIDS patients. The two viruses turn out to be the same, and in 1986, LAV and HTLV-III are renamed HIV. The image is a transmission electron micrograph of the human immunodeficiency virus ( shown in the larger cells). It was taken in 1983 and is one of the first photos of the virus.
12
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
In the midst of swirling and conflicting opinions, O’Donnell became determined to help put the field of human nutrition on a firmer scientific foundation. “The idea wasn’t resoundingly endorsed at first,” O’Donnell recalled. However, he persisted.
” Obstacles are what you see when
you take your eye off the goal. I resolved not to take my eye off the goal.”
Peter O’Donnell
On October 15, 1981, the medical center formed the Center for Human Nutrition. Scott Grundy, MD, PhD, had been recruited as its director by Drs. Mike Brown and Joe Goldstein. The Center was opened
with state funds and an endowed chair from O’Donnell. The medical school committed the space and the equipment. At the time, UT Southwestern was only the second medical school ( behind Columbia ) to begin such a center. The Friends of the Center for Human Nutrition, led by Vin Prothro, a former Texas Instruments executive and technology leader, would later raise an additional $2 million. The focus of the research was on “important medical problems in our society”— especially arteriosclerosis, cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, stroke and hypertension. “There were a lot of misconceptions on the part of the public,” Grundy recalled. “My research emphasis before I came to Southwestern was focused on cholesterol. Considering the work underway here at the time, I guess I was a natural fit,” Grundy added. As Brown and Goldstein continued their research, their work predicted the kind of drug that would lower cholesterol levels. Though Merck held the first statin drug
Scott Grundy, MD, PhD
patent, its scientists were not convinced of its efficacy. Ultimately, one of the first clinical trials on statins was done at UT Southwestern. “We were able to show how effective they really were,” Grundy said. It is particularly noteworthy that the groundbreaking work of Brown and Goldstein was done while they were members of the Department of Medicine and fully active in patient care, ward rounds and student teaching. In the 1980s, Helen Hobbs, MD, was Chief Resident at Parkland Memorial Hospital.
UT Southwestern faculty. “Don Seldin single-handedly changed
Donald Seldin, MD, then Chairman of
the course of my career, and Drs. Brown
Internal Medicine, persuaded her to make
and Goldstein provided a tough, rigorous
the transition from full-time clinician to
and yet supportive environment in which to
physician -scientist and urged her to train
train as a scientist,” Hobbs said.
with Drs. Brown and Goldstein. Beginning in 1983, Hobbs spent four
Dr. Hobbs is now considered one of the world's foremost geneticists in the
years as a postdoctoral research fellow in
areas of cholesterol metabolism and
their laboratory before joining the
cardiovascular disease.
Donald Seldin, MD, and Helen Hobbs, MD
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
B
y 1981, it was clear to many members of the medical school that in addition to a
teaching hospital, the country’s top academic clinicians sought a referral hospital where they could admit patients and offer a wider breadth of specialized medical treatments. Within Dallas, it was beginning to be seen as an economic priority as well. In Houston, the Texas Medical Center had become an economic engine and home to the largest concentration of medical facilities in the world. World-class physicians such as cardiologists Michael E. DeBakey and Denton A. Cooley had attracted international attention. Both UT Southwestern and the city of Dallas were at a competitive disadvantage. The UT Board of Regents agreed to support an outpatient facility — where
” Our institution [ was] the
doctors could provide for their patients’
broke ground on what would become the
only one of the top 20 medical schools in the nation that [did ] not have such a hospital. It was something we wanted and expressed a need for...but I honestly didn’t know how it was going to come about.”
James W. Aston Ambulatory Care Center.
Charles C. Sprague, MD
more basic health care needs — but supporting a new hospital was seen as too great a financial risk to consider. After garnering financial support from the UT System, the medical school
President of the Medical Center
The seven-story outpatient facility opened in 1984.
But planning, constructing and profitably operating a new hospital without the benefit of local or state tax support, or funding from the UT System, presented a daunting challenge. One December evening in 1981, a pediatrician at Children’s Medical Center, Robert Kramer, MD, and his wife were dining with their friends, Bruce and Lynn Lipshy. Lipshy asked Kramer The Zale brothers, Morris and William, started Zale Jewelers with a single
store in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1924.
what he thought Dallas needed most, providing Kramer an opportunity to explain the benefits of a referral hospital. “Let’s do it !” was Lipshy’s immediate
When Morris Zale retired as
President in 1957, his brother-in-law, Ben Lipshy, succeeded him. In the
1970s, Lipshy’s son, Bruce, became
response. Lipshy later contacted Donald Zale, who was equally enthusiastic.
Vice President.
When Morris retired as Chairman
in 1970, his son, Donald Zale, rose to the position of President and CEO. Don Zale and Bruce Lipshy
From 1970 to 1980 company sales
tripled to over $1 billion. Don worked for the company for 35 years.
Owing to Lipshy and Zale’s enthusiasm, a series of conversations with Sprague, Neaves and Wildenthal began, and the realities of a referral hospital were discussed in detail. The Zale Foundation funded a feasibility study and, along with a sizable commitment
from the Zale Corporation, committed nearly $10 million to the project. Though additional monies would be needed, Zale and Lipshy’s commitment had attracted the attention of the philanthropic community, including Ralph Rogers. 14
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
198 4 Charles Sprague, MD, and Kern Wildenthal, MD, PhD, then Dean of the Medical School, present Peter O’Donnell with a $23 million plan to grow faculty endowment. O’Donnell contributes a significant matching grant to fund the plan.
____________
University Medical Center, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to building a university-related teaching and research hospital, is formed.
____________
The James W. Aston Ambulatory Care Building becomes the first major on-campus outpatient facility where faculty physicians can see private patients. The building is named in honor of the late James W. Aston, longtime Chairman of Southwestern Medical Foundation.
____________
Stormie Jones, after receiving the world’s first heart/liver transplant in February, is admitted to the medical school’s General Clinical Research Center for studies on cholesterol metabolism.
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
U N I V E R S IT Y H OSPITA L BOA RD C H A I R M A N
Donald Zale*
F O U N D I N G
C O - C H A I R M E N
Ben Lipshy**
Ralph B. Rogers V I C E
C H A I R M E N
Charles G. Cullum* Bruce A. Lipshy*
Charles C. Sprague, MD* P R E S I D E N T
A N D
C E O
Ronald F. Garvey, MD William R. Hawn
Paul M. Bass*
Michael F. Romaine, PhD Frank M. Ryburn, Jr.
Gene H. Bishop
John J. Kickham
William E. Collins
Margaret McDermott
Charles M. Solomon
Robert W. Decherd
Harvey R. Mitchell
Jere W. Thompson
Patricia Patterson
Warren G. Woodward
Ruth C. Sharp
Barron U. Kidd
Nancy G. Brinker
Richard C. Strauss
L. William McNutt, Jr.
William E. Cooper*
Terry M. Wilson
Peter O’Donnell, Jr.
Ruben Esquivel Lee Fikes
David G. Fox
Gerald W. Fronterhouse John P. Harbin
Lew D. Zale
John G. Penson
C. Vincent Prothro*
* Executive Committee ** Deceased
David W. Quinn*
MEDICAL ADVISORY BOARD C H A I R M A N
Kern Wildenthal, MD, PhD V I C E
C H A I R M A N
John W. Burnside, MD Kenneth Altshuler, MD
James P. McCulley, MD
Ron J. Anderson, MD
William L. Meyerhoff, MD, PhD
F. Gary Cunningham, MD
Vert Mooney, MD
David W. Bilheimer, MD William J. Fry, MD
Robert J. Kramer, MD
Duke Samson, MD
Donald W. Seldin, MD
P. O’B. Montgomery, Jr., MD
Vernie A. Stembridge, MD
Alan K. Pierce, MD
James Willerson, MD
Roger N. Rosenberg, MD
Robert V. Walker, DDS
The governing body of Zale Lipshy University Hospital embodied the resolve of dozens of business and civic leaders. They served to ensure the future growth and excellence of the medical school by continuing to attract the best faculty and outstanding students, improving health care services for the community and providing international recognition for Dallas as a major medical center.
16
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
It was determined that the medical school would provide the medical staff, Parkland would provide support services and a new independent entity, University Medical Center (UMC), would take on the financial responsibility. “Looking back, it is very clear that financing would not have come about without Ralph Rogers,” Sprague said. By 1987, as a result of Rogers’ leadership, a unique bond structure was created that led to UMC completing, in March, a $40 million tax-exempt bond offering. Two months later, on June 23, stakeholders broke ground on the hospital. Meanwhile, the Foundation helped set in motion private funds to effect the payback of the bond issue. In 1987, $23 million was raised and $15 million in additional support was underway.
H
arold Simmons had a form of arthritis that affected his spine and shoulder. The middle son of rural Texas schoolteachers, Simmons was a self-made billionaire.
At age 29, he borrowed money to buy a small drugstore and within a
Harold Simmons’ remarkable legacy of giving to the medical center began in 1983.
decade had built a statewide drugstore chain, which he sold to the Eckerd Corporation in 1973 for more than $50 million. Following the sale, Simmons prospered as an intuitive investor and creative financier. Simmons’ arthritis specialist was in private practice at St. Paul. Appreciative of the care he’d received, Simmons offered to fund research that might help others. His doctor redirected Simmons’ interest to UT Southwestern and Morris Ziff, MD, who was leading one of the most advanced arthritis research programs in the country. In April 1983, Harold Simmons pledged $7.5 million to establish the Harold C. Simmons Arthritis Research Center. At the time, it was the largest gift the medical school had ever received — and the start of what would become a remarkable legacy of giving. That same year, Seldin convinced UT Southwestern graduate Robert Haley, MD, to return to Dallas to found the Division of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine. Epidemiologists study the relationship between medical conditions and their causes by collecting and analyzing data Morris Ziff, MD, was recruited from New York University, where he had established himself as a distinguished rheumatologist. Don Seldin, MD, persuaded Ziff to come to the medical school, where he grew a program
about public health and the behavior of disease. By determining how and why diseases and illnesses occur, epidemiologists are able to help prevent their spread and recurrence. Haley had worked as a resident at Parkland before leaving for Atlanta to work at the CDC, where he produced a pioneering,
that became among the best
10-year study on the control of hospital-acquired infections.
in the country – accelerated by
His ideas were implemented by the CDC and helped set the
Harold Simmons’ generosity.
standards for hospitals across the country. S O U T H W E S T E R N M E D I C A L P E R S P E C T I V E S . F A L L 2 015
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
I
n 1984, the medical center looked to strengthen its molecular biology expertise,
especially in the area of gene cloning, because the process had become a critically important component of biomedical research. The medical school was on the hunt for a Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry, which took Joe Goldstein, MD, to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories in Long Island, New York — a place Mike Brown, MD, once described as being to biology “what Athens was to philosophy.” There, Goldstein met with Joseph Sambrook, PhD. Sambrook was a British molecular virologist, internationally known for his work with the genetics of DNA tumor viruses and how they integrate their DNA into a host cell. He had been personally responsible for many of the advances in molecular biology technique and had co-authored the definitive manual on gene cloning. Joseph Sambrook, PhD, was world renowned for his studies of viruses and the molecular biology of normal and cancerous cells. His
In short, Sambrook was exactly who the medical school needed.
work effectively changed the ways in which
While there was little doubt that Sambrook could propel
scientists approach the cellular development
UT Southwestern to the leading edge of molecular biology, few
of many forms of human cancer. Sambrook was often described by his peers as brilliant, feisty, driven and highly competitive.
thought he would leave the academic environment offered by Cold Spring Harbor. Sambrook had been personally hired as assistant director there by James Watson, MD, the co-discoverer
of the structure of DNA, and was the logical choice to succeed him. UT Southwestern invited Sambrook to spend time on campus beginning in September 1984. During his time in Dallas, he witnessed the level of community support given to the molecular biology department through a significant, anonymous gift donated through Southwestern Medical Foundation. It made an impression. “The standard of science here is very high,” Sambrook noted, “and the people have a great desire to have the place be number one.” He accepted the position as Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry on August 1, 1985.
I
t was several months earlier in 1985 that Ralph Rogers went to call on a good friend,
H. Ross Perot. Perot had consistently expressed interest in supporting “world-class” institutions, and in the previous six years, six UT Southwestern faculty members had been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) — a prestigious achievement by any measure. But Perot declined Rogers’ request, saying, “Perception is more important than reality”— suggesting that the medical center was not widely perceived as world-class. As it turned out, Perot was simply tempting fate. 18
“It changed everything.”
Peter O’Donnell
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
12
NOS.
&
“ through their discoveries, [ Dr. Brown and Dr. Goldstein] revolutionized our knowledge about the regulation of cholesterol metabolism and the treatment of diseases caused by abnormally elevated cholesterol levels in the blood.” The Nobel Committee, Stockholm
“ i don’t believe that the work that Joe and I have done could have been done at any other institution.” Michael S. Brown, MD Nobel Laureate
20
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
it isn’t often in the course of an institution’s history that a single year stands out so clearly, but such was the 1985—1986 academic year for UT Southwestern. On October 14, 1985, it was announced that Drs. Joseph L. Goldstein and Michael S. Brown had won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine ”for their discoveries concerning the regulation of cholesterol metabolism.” Never before had a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine been awarded for research done exclusively within the state of Texas. Brown and Goldstein found that “human cells have low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors that remove cholesterol from the blood” and that when LDL receptors are not present in sufficient numbers, individuals become at risk for cholesterolrelated diseases. It was a pioneering discovery that would lead to the development of statins, which help regulate cholesterol, improve the quality of life for millions of people, and save lives.
Drs. Brown and Goldstein celebrate with colleagues at the UT Health Science Center after the announcement was made that the two had been awarded the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
The Nobel Prize, wrote Harriet Zuckerman in her book Scientific Elite, is the “gold standard by which all other scientific awards are judged…[the] universal and instantly understood metaphor of supreme achievement.” When Brown and Goldstein received their Nobel awards in Stockholm on December 10, 1985, it was a triumph not only for their landmark research into cholesterol metabolism but for UT Southwestern and the Dallas community, which had nurtured their talent, supported their work and maintained their loyalty in the face of highly attractive offers from other prestigious institutions. In scientific circles, the question was asked: What was it about UT Southwestern that encouraged the growth and development of these two assistant professors? The answer is found in the DNA that makes up the medical school: an insistence from Dr. Cary when the school was founded — that medical and scientific excellence be intertwined with a unique culture of collaboration. Since 1901, the Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature and the Prize in Economic Sciences have been awarded in Stockholm.
Brown and Goldstein did more than help inspire the commercial development of a new category of lifesaving drugs — they electrified the
imaginations of medical researchers around the world. The scientific foundation of their work was the discovery that cells have surface receptors that trap cholesterol-carrying molecules, which are then internalized for cellular use. When Brown and Goldstein started out, the existence of cell receptors was known — but what those receptors did, how they worked or how common they were was unknown. The discovery that receptors played a vital role in the regulation of cholesterol in the S O U T H W E S T E R N M E D I C A L P E R S P E C T I V E S . F A L L 2 015
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
bloodstream was a quantum scientific leap. Suddenly, it seemed possible that receptors might be unwitting doormen allowing disease to enter the cell — a kind of microscopic Trojan horse. It was an idea that could be applied to many metabolic processes, and it illuminated a new realm of discovery at life's most basic level.
A
s soon as he heard the announcement, Rogers called Perot. Getting on the line,
Perot laughed: “When I walked into the office this morning, I told all of my associates that I would be hearing from Ralph today. I said that this was going to cost me.” Before making a donation, Perot did something that proved farsighted. Not thinking it was right that Dallas could celebrate a championship football team that had brought the city great pride yet have no plans to honor two Nobel Prize winners, he sponsored a dinner, using his clout to help attract some 300 community leaders. “Perot Lauds Two Nobel Laureates,” read the headline on the front of The Dallas Morning News Metropolitan section on January 10, 1986. The feature story explained that business and civil leaders had gathered “to hear Perot and other speakers…praise the individuals and the institution that brought Texas its first homegrown Nobel Prize.” The joyous celebration would mark the beginning of Dallas’ ongoing commitment on the part of many in the city to support biomedical education and research. Over the next few years Perot became more involved in the medical school. He gathered input from Goldstein, Brown and others. They explained that the best basic science investigators build their laboratories with both postdoctoral fellows and exceptional students to assist them. While the school had begun a small MD/PhD program in 1978 and was able to After gathering input from Brown and Goldstein, Ross Perot announced that he would provide the funding to create the largest Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) in the country.
offer to participants some financial assistance, funding fell far short of the need. Perot recognized the opportunity and provided a $20 million, 10-year grant, which enabled UT Southwestern to create the single largest and most competitive Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) in the country. At the time, it was thought to be the only program that would enable a student to become an MD/PhD with little or no debt. Perot called it “an investment in people and in intellect that will bring enormous
rewards in the years to come. These funds will help train young scientists who might well make the important medical breakthroughs of the future.” He added: “UT Southwestern is the only institution in this part of the country that has the capability of becoming the best of its kind in the world in the next few years.” Perot’s support was more than financial. He personally attended MSTP functions and spoke to potential candidates. And his contribution was not only critical to UT Southwestern but helped a nation keep among its highest priorities the process of actively identifying, encouraging and financially supporting the next generation of its most brilliant medical researchers. 22
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
1985
Michael S. Brown, MD, and Joseph L. Goldstein, MD, are announced winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
____________ ____________ ____________
Medical school personnel treat victims of Delta Air Lines Flight 191, which crashed near DFW Airport. Joseph Sambrook, PhD, becomes Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry.
By the mid-1980s, the campus has grown into a sprawling biomedical complex, housing one of the finest scientific faculties in the nation who are engaged in the training of new physicians, in research that often is of worldwide importance, and in the development of new health care techniques that will improve the quality of medicine.
____________
Southwestern Medical Foundation pledges $1 million to a new private, nonprofit referral hospital proposed by University Medical Center once certain conditions are met. The gift is earmarked for the purchase of equipment used for research, teaching and patient care.
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198 6
Continuing a longstanding legacy of giving, the Hoblitzelle Foundation makes seven gifts totaling just under $2.1 million to Southwestern Medical Foundation in support of the medical center and health care across the state. The Hoblitzelle Foundation’s annual giving has proved foundational and transformative since the school’s founding in 1943.
____________
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announces its intent to establish a major research unit at the medical school — a five-year, $20 million commitment to develop a center for molecular biomedical research. Later in the year, HHMI launches a $60 million research program devoted to the science of structural biophysics. UT Southwestern is one of only six of its member institutions selected for the task.
____________
centers, including Harvard, Johns
is supported by the interest
Hopkins and UT Southwestern.
earned on $12.5 million in escrowed
The UT Southwestern proposal
investments by private investors. The
was the joint product of the
medical center contributes to the
medical center and a mayor’s task
funding of research projects from its
force to stimulate development of a
Hartford grant. Between 1986 and 1990, Dallas
biotechnology industry in Dallas. In early 1985, Hartford announced Vin Prothro led the effort to raise private venture capital to launch the Dallas Biomedical Corporation.
In the early 1980s, the John A. Hartford Foundation in New York was
Biomedical funds 30 research projects
that UT Southwestern would receive
it feels have commercial promise.
the five-year, $3 million award – the
After a reorganization, the company
largest in the foundation’s history – to
focuses its efforts on a new cancer
create a venture capital pool to fund
therapy. However, the company is
innovative biotechnology projects.
faced with raising as much as $40
The effort is formally established
million to be able to take the therapy
interested in making grants aimed at
in March 1986 as Dallas Biomedical
accelerating university-originated
Corporation – a private venture
biomedical discoveries to benefit
between UT Southwestern and inves-
of a risk for investors, the developed
patients. The Hartford Foundation had
tors. It is the first organization
technologies become part of the
a solid reputation for providing grants
of its kind in the country and draws
UT Southwestern intellectual property
for innovative public health programs
international attention.
portfolio and are offered to
and specialized clinical research. It took proposals from 13 medical
Its unique funding contribution to research projects at UT Southwestern
____________
through early-stage clinical studies. When that proves too much
industry under traditional licensing arrangements.
The Charles Cameron Sprague Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science is established as a permanent endowment upon reaching its $500,000 goal. A few years later, the endowment reaches $1 million.
____________
Bruce Beutler, MD, joins the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) at UT Southwestern, returning to the medical school where he completed his residency.
24
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
I
n February 1986, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute ( HHMI) announced it was
establishing a major research unit at the school — a five-year, $20 million commitment to develop a center for molecular biomedical research. UT Southwestern was one of only 12 major university medical centers in the country to be chosen by HHMI and would be the site of one of its largest research centers. Most remember Howard Hughes as an
developed Hughes Aircraft Company.
in isolation, but Hughes was a man of
Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His vision
an investor, aviator, aerospace engineer,
monies that would probe “the genesis of
eccentric billionaire who spent his last years extraordinary intellect and diverse talents: inventor and filmmaker. He acquired and expanded Trans World Airlines ( which
later merged with American Airlines ) and
But Hughes’ enduring legacy is the
of scientific philanthropy was to commit life itself.”
Hughes was born in Humble, Texas, and
is buried in Houston, Texas.
Howard Hughes (seen here with his new Boeing 100A, a civilian version of the Army’s P-12B pursuit aircraft, in Inglewood, California, in the 1940s) founded the HHMI in 1953.
The Hughes designation catapulted the medical center to the forefront of molecular biomedical excellence. At the time, it was the largest infusion of private funds from a single source in the institution’s 43-year history. The timing of the announcement could not have been better. Joe Sambrook, PhD, well understood its recruitment value and, armed with fully funded Hughes “Investigatorships,” set out to aggressively build his department. On a personal level the timing also proved auspicious because renowned molecular biologist Mary-Jane Gething, PhD, a researcher at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Sambrook’s wife, would soon become one of the school’s first Howard Hughes Investigators. Her memories encapsulate the school’s unique culture: “The whole medical school was special. Many medical schools…[had] deep divisions between the basic researchers and the clinicians. But in Dallas…there’s a guy called Don Seldin who…had insisted that his clinicians have a research focus. So there was this amazing synergy there between the clinicians and the basic scientists.”
I
n May 1986, Wildenthal put the remarkable academic year into perspective in a
report made to the Foundation: “As with most worthwhile endeavors the dividends being realized now are more the product of wise investment and decisions made over the past four decades....Those of us who are in a position to enjoy today’s success owe an immeasurable debt to our predecessors for making these successes possible.” It was an acknowledgment of the visionary leadership provided by Cary, Seldin and Sprague, among others, as well as the work of recent Foundation leaders such as George MacGregor, James Aston and James Keay. S O U T H W E S T E R N M E D I C A L P E R S P E C T I V E S . F A L L 2 015
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
A
s a final exclamation point to the academic year, in May 1986 the HHMI launched a
$60 million research program devoted to the science of structural biophysics. UT Southwestern was one of only six of its member institutions selected for the task. The goal of the research was to unlock the mysteries of protein structure and function. There are tens of thousands of proteins in the body. Each has a highly specialized biochemical function that is determined by its shape. But accurate visualization of those proteins was a highly complex, time-consuming process. X-ray crystallography, developed by physicists to determine the precise arrangement of atoms in metallic crystals, was one of the best visualizing tools available. So, with his Howard Hughes Investigatorships in hand, Sambrook went in search of the world’s premier X-ray crystallographers. During his search, exceptional researchers outside the field of X-ray crystallography were identified — including 28-year-old researcher Bruce Bruce Beutler, MD, graduated
Beutler, MD, who had done his residency at UT Southwestern a few years earlier.
from the University of California,
Beutler joined HHMI at UT Southwestern later that year and set up his
San Diego, at age 18 in 1976. He
lab. His interest was in developing a means to block a cellular activity called
enrolled in medical school at the University of Chicago, receiving
“tumor necrosis factor” (TNF), which could prove useful in reducing chronic
his MD in 1981. In 1986, he
inflammation.
was invited by Joe Sambrook to join the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at UT Southwestern,
Beutler’s lab patented a unique protein, which was ultimately acquired by Amgen. Today, the molecule his team invented is marketed as Enbrel, an
where he set up his own lab.
effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.
O
n August 31, 1986, Charles Sprague, MD, stepped down as President of The University
of Texas Health Science Center. Sprague had guided its growth from a small but promising medical school into a leading comprehensive medical and life sciences center. Upon his retirement, he was named President Emeritus
$200 million
of the medical center and joined Southwestern Medical
$183 M
Foundation, becoming President in 1987 and Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer in 1988. During Sprague’s tenure as President, the medical center’s annual budget had grown from $10 million to $183 million,
$100 million
sustained in large part by ever-increasing appropriations from federal and state funding in support of medical education and research. Throughout the first half of the 1980s, funding had grown steadily, and by 1985 state appropriations alone had reached $62.5 million. It seemed that the momentum of the 1985 —1986 academic year would be unstoppable. 26
$10 M
1972
1986
During Sprague’s tenure as President, the medical center’s annual budget grew from $10 million to $183 million.
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
198 6 [ CONT. ]
” There is no question
that the medical center would not have achieved its success...would not enjoy the present outstanding physical plant...and would not have some of its very best faculty residing at the school had it not been for private support.”
Charles C. Sprague, MD
On August 31, Charles Sprague, MD, steps down as President of The University of Texas Health Science Center. The next day, Kern Wildenthal, MD, PhD, assumes the presidency.
In the spring of 1986, the medical school comes full circle: Its first graduate retires.
In 1944, Ervin Addy, MD, 65, had been the first of 61
graduates to walk across the stage and receive his medical
degree from the fledgling medical school made of plywood and big dreams.
Now, near the same time Addy retires, the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute announces its plan to spend at least
$20 million to set up a major biomedical science facility, The first graduation ceremony was held in March 1944 in the Alex W. Spence Junior High School auditorium.
establishing labs on two floors of the Cecil H. and Ida Green Science building to accommodate up to 25 scientists.
It’s a remarkable contrast that demonstrates just how far
the medical school had come in only 42 years.
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198 7
Charles Sprague, MD, joins Southwestern Medical Foundation as President.
____________
On March 25, University Medical Center closes on a $40 million, tax-exempt bond offering for Zale Lipshy University Hospital. Ground is broken on June 23.
____________ ____________
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation gives 30 acres of land to UT Southwestern. The Green Research Building
The Green Research Building was adjacent to the Green Building (which Ida M. and Cecil Green also helped fund) on the South Campus. FEATURED DEPARTMENTS, LABS AND CENTERS
» Animal Resource Center » The Center for Human Nutrition » The Department of Biochemistry » Divisions of the Department of Internal Medicine including Endocrinology, Rheumatology and Infectious Disease
Ida M. and Cecil Green had a lifelong passion
hundreds of millions of dollars to educational
for learning. Cecil Green co-founded Texas
and medical facilities all over the world.
Instruments in 1951 and had amassed a fortune
Believing in a “multiplier factor,” the Greens
by the time he retired in 1975.
felt that by contributing to the training of
The Greens devoted their lives to giving Ida M. and Cecil Green in front of the Green Research Building.
scientists, physicians and educators, their gifts
away the fortune – with over $30 million directed
would eventually impact the lives of many
to UT Southwestern.
thousands, perhaps even millions, of people.
Beyond their lifelong and extraordinary support of the medical center, the couple gave
____________
Ida passed away in 1986 at the age of 83, following a battle with leukemia.
Southwestern Medical Foundation makes a $100,000 donation to be used in setting up a permanent medical and health science exhibit at The Science Place in Fair Park.
____________
Donald Seldin, MD, announces he will be stepping down after 35 years as Chairman of Internal Medicine, having built arguably the finest Department of Internal Medicine in the country. He inspired generations of physician-scientists, creating the intellectual foundation on which UT Southwestern was built.
The UT System Board of Regents changes the name
wrote on behalf of medical students who had
of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas,
not only proud of the name ‘Southwestern’
of the health science center to The University
ending a long struggle to reincorporate the word “Southwestern” into the name.
The effort began in 1970 when Bryan Williams,
Associate Dean for Student and Alumni Affairs,
28
expressed their deep concern to him: “...we are but we are...very appreciative of the part that
[Southwestern Medical Foundation] has played in the existence of this medical school.”
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
T
he day after Sprague retired, Wildenthal
took the helm as only the second president of the medical center — a position he would hold for the next 22 years. Wildenthal was the unanimous choice of the UT System Board of Regents and an internationally recognized research scientist in the field of cardiac physiology, having authored more than 120 scientific papers in basic research and clinical cardiology as well as numerous articles on health and education policy issues. During his tenure as Dean of the Medical School, eight of its professors were named to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). But almost overnight, the price of oil plummeted. The Texas real estate and banking markets collapsed, and the state economy was Kern Wildenthal, MD, PhD, joined the UT Southwestern faculty as an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Physiology in 1970, becoming an Associate Professor in 1971 and full Professor in 1975. From 1976 to 1980, he served as Dean of the Graduate School, and from 1980 to 1986 he was Dean of the Medical School.
thrown into a deep recession. Wildenthal was only a few weeks into his Presidency when he was informed that state support for the medical school’s 1986 — 1987 budget would be cut by 14%. “With this news came the solemn warning
that the decreased budget level would be perpetuated until further notice,” he recalled. “We were suddenly thrown into a serious financial crisis at a time when we were fundamentally poised to move forward and capitalize on the huge gains made over the past few decades.” UT Southwestern needed to raise millions of dollars. And quickly. Joined by Sprague (now President of the Foundation) and other Foundation members, Wildenthal reached out to members of the community familiar with the medical school for their help — a list that included Harold Simmons, Peter and Edith O’Donnell, Erik Jonsson, Cecil Green and Margaret McDermott.
In 1986, Saudi Arabia ramped up output, which sparked a 60% plunge in the price of oil, sending it just above
$10 a barrel. The drop created an oil bust and banking
crisis that drove the Texas economy into recession. State unemployment would reach 9.3%. Between 1986 and
1990, more than 700 Texas banks and thrifts would fail. As a result, beginning in 1986, state funding to
UT Southwestern is immediately cut by 14%.
Importantly, efforts were made to engage others less familiar with UT Southwestern, including Nancy Hamon, Charles and Sarah Seay and dozens of other donors, a few of whom preferred their generosity be paired with anonymity.
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
meanwhile, Sambrook was determined to recruit Johann Deisenhofer, PhD, who worked at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried, a small town near Munich. Together with Hartmut Michel and Robert Huber, Deisenhofer studied a protein complex found in photosynthetic bacteria called a photosynthetic reaction center. In a collaboration that started in 1982, the three scientists used X-ray crystallography to determine the precise structure of this membrane-bound protein atom by atom — more than 10,000 atoms in total. The task was largely finished in 1985, and the reaction center represented the largest and most complex structure ever solved by X-ray crystallography up to that time. The structural determination helped explain the detailed mechanism of the conversion of light energy into chemical energy in photosynthesis, a biological process upon which almost all life on our planet depends. But their work had implications in other fields far outside the area of photosynthesis research. Many other critical biological functions are associated with membrane-bound proteins, such as the transport of nutrients into cells, hormone action and nerve impulses. Word of Deisenhofer and his team’s remarkable success had spread throughout the world scientific community. He’d received numerous invitations to report his results in scientific meetings, seminars, even TV shows. “I received a formal letter from Joe Sambrook (whom I had never heard of ) asking whether I might be interested in a faculty position,” Deisenhofer said. “I knew absolutely nothing about the place…but a postdoctoral fellow in our research group in Munich had completed his PhD at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and spoke highly of UT Southwestern.” Deisenhofer ended up visiting the campus twice. He was impressed by the breadth and depth of the school’s basic sciences department and the spirit of collaboration Johann Deisenhofer raising a glass at the Nobel Awards dinner in Stockholm.
that existed between it and the clinical departments, and he recognized the benefits of being a Howard Hughes Investigator. During both visits, Sambrook fortuitously asked Kirsten
Fischer-Lindahl, a Professor of Microbiology and Biochemistry and a Hughes Investigator, to show Deisenhofer around Dallas. “Almost immediately after I met her, I fell in love,” Deisenhofer recalled. In March 1988, Deisenhofer moved to Dallas to become a Professor of Biochemistry at UT Southwestern and Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In December, Deisenhofer, Michel and Huber received the 1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work. Fischer-Lindahl and Deisenhofer were married in 1989.
30
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
3
NO.
“ the work on the photosynthetic reaction center changed my life in many ways. It was a special privilege to belong to the very small group of people who saw the structural model of this molecule grow on the screen of a computer workstation, and it is hard to describe the excitement I felt during this period of the work. The wide recognition of our work also opened the possibility for me to move to a new place, and to build a research group of my own. The best of several opportunities was an offer from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.� Johann Deisenhofer, PhD Nobel Laureate
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
“People would always see me or Mike or both of us and say, ‘Oh, you’re the guy who won the Peace Prize.’ We used to say, ‘No,we did this and that.’ Now, we just say, ‘Yeah.’” Joseph L. Goldstein, MD
After winning the Nobel Prize, Drs. Brown and
Goldstein were offered top positions at many of the most prestigious medical institutions across the country.
As partners, they made a conscious decision
not to seek the limelight but to continue working together, doing the things they loved — staying close to the science and to the students.
They attracted funding, tirelessly recruited new talent and contributed thinking that had
an extraordinary impact on the medical center. To many observers, it was remarkable how
easily they shook off winning the Nobel Prize and went on their way. Yet they were, in fact, Michael Brown, MD, and Joe Goldstein, MD
rock stars of medical science — celebrities who wore the mantle of their achievements with
grace while garnering increasing recognition from the scientific and lay communities.
“Very frequently, people will call me Joe, and they’re always embarrassed, and I say: 'Don’t be embarrassed. My wife makes the same mistake.’” Michael S. Brown, MD
32
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
I
n 1986, Scott Grundy, MD, PhD, working with researchers in California, was
comparing the effects of different types of fats on cholesterol levels. In the Mediterranean region of the world, people had eaten comparatively large amounts of olive oil — a monounsaturated fat — for centuries. And yet studies had shown that in those populations cholesterol and heart disease were quite low. At the time, it was believed that polyunsaturated fat — the fat found in corn
Olive oil – a monounsaturated fat – is a key component of the Mediterranean diet.
and safflower oils — was far healthier. “Our studies proved that monounsaturated fat lowered cholesterol as much as polyunsaturated fat did when you substituted it for saturated fats,” Grundy said. “Furthermore, monounsaturated fats are synthesized normally by the body and less likely to have some of the side effects that have been postulated to occur with polyunsaturated fats.” The news generated tremendous interest worldwide, and millions of people began adding
“ Statins are one
of the major accomplishments in medicine in the past three decades. They will save millions of lives in the U.S. and around the world.” Scott Grundy, MD, PhD
Director The Center for Human Nutrition
olive oil to their everyday diet. In September 1987, the first statin drug, lovastatin, was approved by the FDA and released for marketing as Mevacor (Merck). Many others would follow. Over the next 15 years, Brown and Goldstein, Grundy, and a host of leading investigators at UT Southwestern continued to conduct research on various statin formulations. Their results, combined with
that of researchers around the world, confirmed the safety and effectiveness of statins in preventing heart disease in people with high cholesterol.
B
y the late 1980s, reducing the amount of fat in one’s diet had been identified as one of
the most important changes needed to improve the nation’s health. Medical, scientific, federal and international agencies spread the word that saturated fats cause heart disease. A concerted national effort to reduce saturated fat began. Certain foods, like red meat, became particularly associated with heart disease. In 1988, however, Grundy surprised the nation’s nutritionists with his discovery that stearic acid, a saturated fat — “the bad kind” — did not raise total cholesterol. Grundy proved that once stearic acid got into the body, the vast majority of it was quickly converted to monounsaturated fat: “the good kind.” The announcement bordered on heresy for many nutritionists and generated headlines across the country with the news that foods high in stearic acid, like beef fat and cocoa butter, were not as detrimental to one’s health as experts had long assumed. S O U T H W E S T E R N M E D I C A L P E R S P E C T I V E S . F A L L 2 015
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
W
ith the tremendous successes of the 1980s, it was becoming apparent to Wildenthal
and Neaves that at the rate the medical center was growing, it would soon be landlocked. For many years, a tract of land covering roughly 65 acres just north of the medical school lay dormant. The open space belonged to the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation — one of the nation’s largest independent foundations. Initially, UT Southwestern had no interest in the land. But the growing school’s attempts to acquire property across from the main campus on Harry Hines Boulevard failed, and federal regulations prevented any disturbance of eight, heavily treed acres on the main campus that were home to a sizable population of snowy egrets. On behalf of UT Southwestern, Neaves, Vin Prothro and Philip O’Bryan Montgomery, III, agreed to work with the MacArthur Foundation to explore acquiring the land as
Philanthropist C. Vincent (“Vin”) Prothro, UT Southwestern Professor William Neaves, PhD, and businessman Philip O’Bryan Montgomery, III, were instrumental in facilitating the donation by the MacArthur Foundation on which the North Campus would be located.
a philanthropic gift. After months of preparation, a formal request was submitted. While the request was acknowledged to be a worthy cause, it was rejected because it fell outside of the core mission of causes the MacArthur Foundation supported. Rather than accept the rejection, a team that included Wildenthal, Montgomery, Prothro and O’Donnell reimagined its approach. A new proposal asked for a donation of 30 acres, requested the rights to purchase another parcel of land over time — and put forward a convincing argument that as the land was developed, the portion the MacArthur Foundation retained would rise dramatically in value. In 1988, the Heart Transplant Program was initiated at UT Southwestern.
W. Steves Ring, MD, Professor of
Cardiothoracic Surgery, performed the first transplant on noted author and Texas historian A. C. Greene.
Faced with incurable cardiomyop-
athy, in June 1988 Greene underwent a heart transplant and two years later published Taking Heart, in which he
described the experience of receiving the heart of a 31-year-old woman
(who had died from a brain tumor)
and his gratitude and joy at getting a second chance at life.
The proposal was approved with certain conditions, and near the end of 1987 UT Southwestern officially acquired the first 30 acres of North Campus land. With the land secured, a master plan for the North Campus was drawn up: the result of a 10-month study funded in part by a grant from Southwestern Medical Foundation. The plan called for the construction of more than 2.5 million square feet of facilities over a period of 20 years. Just months later, in 1988, Harold Simmons made an unprecedented $41 million commitment to the medical center to begin to develop what was called the North
Campus. At the time, it was the largest philanthropic gift in Dallas history and ranked as one of the largest donations ever made for medical research in the U.S. The gift included the funds to complete the first research building (the Simmons Biomedical Research Building), to provide additional funding for arthritis research and cancer research, to help establish the 34
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
Johann Deisenhofer, PhD, is awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
____________ ____________
198 8
Harold C. Simmons commits $41 million to UT Southwestern for cancer and arthritis research. The Perot Foundation commits $20 million to UT Southwestern to fund the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP).
____________ ____________
Daniel Foster, MD, becomes Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, succeeding Donald Seldin, MD. Researchers from UT Southwestern’s Space
Medicine Laboratory take an electrocardiogram while weightless during a NASA 707 flight as
it soars on a parabolic curve path. Both Buckey and Gaffney later fly as NASA astronauts.
From left, a NASA technician, Lynda Lane, Jay Buckey, MD ( horizontal ) and Drew Gaffney, MD
____________
Oscar-winning actress Greer Garson Fogelson donates $1.5 million to the Foundation to endow a chair honoring Paul C. Peters, MD, who had cared for her husband, oilman E.E. “Buddy” Fogelson. Peters was internationally recognized for his leadership in
urological surgery and, in 1964, headed the team that performed the first kidney transplant in Texas.
Greer Garson Fogelson and E. E. “Buddy” Fogelson
____________
Donald Seldin, MD, is named President of Southwestern Medical Foundation, succeeding Charles Sprague, MD, who becomes Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. James W. Aston, who served as President for eight years and Chairman for seven years, joins George L. MacGregor as Chairman Emeritus. The Foundation also honors four decades of service by Evelyn Whitman, establishing the Evelyn M. Whitman Scholarship Fund.
____________
A $5 million grant from the National Institute on Aging establishes a center to explore the underlying genetics and biology of memory loss, dementia and aging, giving UT Southwestern the only Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in the Southwest (at the time).
“ [ UT Southwestern] has become a distinguished institution
with a national reputation of significance. This is all the more commendable in view of the fact that the school was founded in rather humble surroundings only 45 years ago. In this short time, the medical school has developed an enviable national reputation for teaching, scientific inquiry and patient care.
”
The Liaison Committee of Medical Education
The official accrediting body for educational programs leading to the MD degree in the United States. S O U T H W E S T E R N M E D I C A L P E R S P E C T I V E S . F A L L 2 015
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198 9
An $8.3 million,10-year commitment is made to establish the Harry S. Moss Heart Trust. The medical center was first selected as a recipient of Moss Trust funds in the early 1970s when an original commitment established the Harry S. Moss Heart Center.
____________ ____________
Southwestern Medical Foundation celebrates its golden anniversary. Paul Bass, Jr., is elected as a Foundation Trustee after his term as Chairman, Board of Managers of Parkland, ends in January. “It’s a great compliment,” he says. “I think the medical school is the greatest asset of the city of Dallas.”
____________
A 20-year master plan calls for the construction of six research towers on the North Campus. The 10-month study, funded in part by a grant from Southwestern Medical Foundation, calls for the construction of more than 2.5 million square feet of facilities.
____________
UT Southwestern researchers in mineral metabolism, including the world-renowned Charles Pak, MD, announce results of clinical trials using a new treatment to restore spinal bone mass. The slow release form of sodium fluoride with calcium citrate — which later becomes known as Citracal TM — is shown to safely reverse the effects of Charles Pak, MD
osteoporosis by augmenting bone mass.
____________
Researchers at UT Southwestern refine a fast-acting drug called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), which can rapidly dissolve blood clots in patients with ischemic stroke, greatly reducing the risk of mortality or severe disability.
____________
UT Southwestern establishes the Department of Neurosurgery, which is chaired by Duke Samson, MD, who will later be dubbed by D Magazine as “the most interesting neurosurgeon in the world.”
____________
John P. Perkins, PhD, becomes Dean of the UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and William B. Neaves, PhD, officially becomes Dean of the Medical School — the unanimous choice of a 16-member search committee.
____________
The Foundation receives its first distribution from the Shannon estate, estimated at almost $4 million. Hall Shannon, MD, was one of the original founders of the Foundation.
____________
Zale Lipshy University Hospital opens, providing greater access to UT Southwestern’s clinical specialists and faculty. “I couldn’t have survived the construction and opening of Zale without Bill Neaves,” recalls Don Zale.
36
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center and to endow five Distinguished Chairs named for his four daughters and his wife, Annette. Yet even with the monies in place to cover the construction costs of the first research tower, there remained a critical hurdle to overcome: Being a state institution meant that construction of all new medical school buildings required approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. And the deep economic downturn in Texas had resulted in a moratorium on all new construction at state universities. After initial talks, there appeared to be no room for exceptions. In fact, the Board Building Committee recommended disapproval of the construction. Wildenthal took charge, aided by calls from community members with relationships in Austin. He invited Coordinating Board members to learn the details of the MacArthur grant and the implications of Simmons’ generous gift, emphasizing among other things that the fully funded building would serve to attract the country’s best medical researchers. In the weeks prior to the official vote, Wildenthal met individually with members of the Coordinating Board, and on the day of the vote he eloquently addressed the full Board. Instead of voting unanimously to approve the Committee’s recommendation as it had routinely done in the past, the Coordinating Board rendered a split vote and in the process narrowly approved the new construction. Relentless determination in the pursuit of medical excellence was the basis on which the school was built. It would also be the standard on which the future would be built.
users. Celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor came forward to help focus the country
and its prevention. “It was extremely effective and
on the human tragedy of the growing
attracted funding from the Centers for
epidemic.
Disease Control (CDC ) and other sources.
During this period, funding for AIDS
As a result of this initiative, Dallas was the
research was not directed to the medical
first major city in the country to turn the
center. Nevertheless, in 1989 Robert
epidemic curve around,” Haley said.
W. Haley, MD, working with local health
A few years later, it appeared that
organizations, put together the first
federal funding for the AIDS Prevention
household survey covering relevant issues
Program might be cut. After a series of
such as sexual behavior.
meetings that brought The League
On June 5, 1981, the CDC reported a rare
It was highly controversial.
of Women Voters, The Women’s Council
lung infection in five young, previously
“Our teams went door-to-door and
of Dallas and The Dallas County Medical
healthy gay men in Los Angeles. The men
took blood samples to measure how many
Society together with the medical school,
had other complications; it appeared their
people might already have the latent
the AIDS Prevention Program was placed
immune systems were failing.
infection,” Haley explained.
under the UT Southwestern School of
When the first AIDS cases were reported,
Follow-up meetings with the Dallas
Health Professions. It was renamed the
no one knew what was causing the
County Health Department produced the
Community Prevention and Intervention
disease or how it was being transmitted,
AIDS Prevention Program. With the results
Unit (CPIU) and, as a result, was able to
let alone how to prevent or treat it.
of the blood test survey in hand, program
retain its federal grants.
From the outset, AIDS patients were
members knew where in the community
“It has functioned ever since as one of
stigmatized and attracted a high level
to focus. They made friends with those
the finest AIDS prevention programs in
of discrimination as the disease was first
putting themselves at risk and educated
the country with continuous funding from
linked to gay men and intravenous drug
them on the seriousness of the disease
the CDC,” Haley said.
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
O
n January 21, 1989, Southwestern Medical Foundation turned 50. It was a time to
reflect on a remarkable legacy of accomplishment.
“…had it not been for the vision and commitment of Dr. Cary
and Karl Hoblitzelle there would be no Southwestern Medical Foundation or University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, certainly not as we know them today.”
Charles Sprague, MD Chairman of the Foundation
“ From the beginning the Foundation has focused its
attention on educating great physicians and meeting the medical needs of the community, often providing leadership as well as funds for various health care programs.”
George L. MacGregor
Chairman Emeritus of the Foundation
“As Southwestern Medical Foundation celebrates its
golden anniversary, it does so with the pride of knowing that the founders’ vision for forging a major medical center in Dallas has become a reality.”
Don Seldin, MD
President of the Foundation
Later that year, on November 1, Southwestern Medical Foundation and the Hoblitzelle Foundation sponsored a cancer symposium in honor of the Foundation’s 50th anniversary. The event drew many of the world’s most notable leaders in cancer research — a reflection of the respect that UT Southwestern had earned as a leading research institution. “The development of excellence at Southwestern Medical School over the past two decades is now recognized at an international level,” noted Jonathan Uhr, Chairman of the Department of Microbiology. As a result of Harold Simmons’ unprecedented generosity, the medical center could now take steps to establish itself as a leader in oncology research and treatment. Nine days later, at the November 10 dedication ceremonies for the opening of Zale Lipshy University Hospital, Wildenthal praised the city of Dallas for its significant involvement in making it happen. Donald Zale, Chairman of University Hospital at the time, remarked that dedications often mark “a rite of passage from one stage in the life of an institution to another.” And indeed it would be. 38
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
198 9 [ CONT. ]
“Other than the Nobel Prize, this is the honor to which most American scientists aspire.” Kern Wildenthal, MD, PhD
( referring to National Academy of Sciences membership)
UT Southwestern Faculty Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in the 1980s
19 8 0
19 8 0 Joseph L. Goldstein, MD
Michael S. Brown, MD
19 8 3
19 8 4
Jean D. Wilson, MD
19 8 3 Samuel M. McCann, MD
19 8 5
Jonathan W. Uhr, MD
19 8 6
Alfred G. Gilman, MD, PhD
Roger H. Unger, MD
1989 vs. 2015 Total Students
Full-Time Faculty
Annual Budget
Total Sq. Ft.
Nobel Laureates
NAS* Members
4,700
2,400
$2.3 B
7.7 M
6
23
1,500
900
$176 M
2.4 M
3
8
1989 numbers are shown relative to 2015. *National Academy of Sciences
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
The new Zale Lipshy University Hospital provides the medical school a hospital to care for referral patients. It helps attract and retain strong faculty members from throughout the nation and offers medical students the opportunity to observe highly specialized medical cases as part of their education.
A collaborative effort between Zale Lipshy and the Dallas Museum of Art humanized the public spaces and patient rooms with the glowing colors and vibrant patterns of museum-quality Asian textiles. Margaret McDermott made the visionary suggestion. The acquisition and installation of approximately 300 textiles was made possible by Margaret McDermott
40
a gift from the Eugene McDermott Foundation.
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS 1990
I
TO
199 9
n August 1990, the medical school successfully recruited Willis Maddrey, MD, as Vice President for Clinical Affairs. One of his responsibilities was to ensure
the success of Zale Lipshy University Hospital, which had opened nine months earlier. Maddrey was an internationally renowned expert on digestive and liver disease and had served as Associate Physician in Chief in the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He had directed the liver unit at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and had been Chairman A patient room at University Hospital.
of the Department of Medicine at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. The day he arrived in Dallas, only four of the hospital’s
Willis Maddrey, MD, was recruited to ensure the success of the new hospital.
six floors were open and no more than a dozen patients occupied beds in Zale Lipshy’s 152-bed facility. To remain viable, a capacity of 100 patients was needed. Parkland had by now been much improved and, as a teaching hospital, it was the focus of much of the faculty’s attention. “No public hospital was more highly regarded in the country,” Maddrey confirmed. “Parkland had the best trauma center in the world. And probably the finest burn unit and obstetrics departments as well." He added, “I was confident that the city could support The new Zale Lipshy was equipped with some of the most advanced medical and diagnostic equipment available.
two parallel hospital services and neither one would be diminished by the other.”
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
I
n 1991, Southwestern Medical Foundation created its most prestigious civic honor,
the Community Service Award, given annually to members of the community who provided significant support to the improvement of medical education, research and patient care. The award’s first recipient was James W. Aston, former President and Chairman of Republic Bank, who, like many before him, had long championed the cause of quality health care in Dallas. In the mid-1960s, when Karl Hoblitzelle’s health began to decline during his last years as President of the Foundation, Aston played a key role. During his long history of service to the Foundation, Aston served as Treasurer, Vice President, President, Chairman of the Board and Chairman Emeritus. Southwestern Medical Foundation was just one of a dozen institutions that owed Aston a huge debt of gratitude. Among his many significant accomplishments, his innovative financial strategies are credited for the successful bond campaign that built the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. When Aston died in 1995, Foundation President Charles Sprague summed up Aston’s contributions: “It would be hard to exaggerate James Aston’s influence on the development of the medical school.”
Duke S. Samson, MD, who joined the UT Southwestern faculty in
eanwhile, clinical chairs led by Maddrey were starting
to find success growing Zale Lipshy through a select handful
1977, was one reason why Zale
of surgical subspecialties that included neurosurgery,
Lipshy Hospital grew. His renowned
otolaryngology ( ENT), plastic surgery and ophthalmology.
reputation as a neurosurgeon attracted patients from across the
But progress was slow.
Southwest. Samson was named
“Some of the faculty remained unconvinced of the need
Chairman of the Division of Neurosurgery in 1985, which Duke S. Samson, MD
M
James W. Aston was a Dallas banker, civic leader and longtime Foundation Board Member. He joined Republic National Bank as Vice President after World War II and worked under Karl Hoblitzelle, who was Chairman of the bank from 1945 to 1965.
became a department in 1989.
for a university practice and, for them, seeing private patients was less of a priority than attending at Parkland, teaching and research,” recalls John Rutherford, MD, who joined the
UT Southwestern faculty in 1993 as holder of the Gail Griffiths Hill Chair in Cardiology. “There were a lot of determined people in the community who wanted the hospital to succeed, and they helped us tremendously along the way,” Maddrey noted. The list included Donald Zale ( who served as Chairman of the hospital’s Board of Directors beginning in 1987),
“ A sea change in the way the
Margaret and Eugene McDermott, Cecil and Ida Green, Peter O’Donnell, Erik Jonsson and Ralph Rogers — all of whom, by 1994, had been awarded the Foundation’s coveted Community Service Award. 42
hospital was viewed by the faculty needed to occur...but we made it work. And it made a difference.”
Willis Maddrey, MD
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
199 0
The Eugene McDermott Foundation and the Biological Humanics Foundation (which McDermott founded) establish a distinguished chair in developmental biology in honor of Philip O’Bryan Montgomery, Jr.
____________
The Mary Nell and Ralph B. Rogers Magnetic Resonance Center opens its doors. The $4.8 million, 24,000-square-foot building is the first on the medical center’s new 30-acre North Campus site.
____________
UT Southwestern announces the endow-
The effort began as a $10.5 million
ment of more than 20 new Distinguished
Southwestern Endowment Challenge,
Chairs – the result of a successful
which was funded by $8.4 million from
$21 million fundraising campaign. Robert
The O’Donnell Foundation, $1 million
W. Decherd, Chairman and CEO of
from Ida and Cecil Green, $1 million from
A. H. Belo Corp. ( parent company of The
Southwestern Medical Foundation and
Dallas Morning News and WFAA-TV ), served as Chairman of the leadership committee. Kern Wildenthal, MD, PhD, and Robert W. Decherd
It was the first organized effort to
$100,000 from an anonymous donor. “[ The Chairs ] serve as tangible symbols of the great progress being made by this campus and the community
seek endowed funds for faculty posi-
effort and understanding which had
tions at the medical school and would
been a cornerstone for that success,”
help attract and retain the best medical
said Louis Beecherl, Jr., Chairman of the
minds in the country.
UT System Board of Regents.
____________
Bryan Williams, MD, a former UT Southwestern student in 1947, receives Southwestern Medical Foundation’s prestigious Ho Din Award – the first time a faculty member has won the award in over 40 years. “I don’t believe there is an individual in the country who has done a more outstanding job as a student advocate than Bryan Williams,” says Charles Sprague, MD. At the same time, the Foundation establishes the Bryan Williams Student Assistance Fund to help UT Southwestern medical students in their pursuit of becoming doctors. Bryan Williams, MD, with students
____________
The Foundation receives the final $1.2 million distribution from Mary Lucile Shannon to create the $3.7 million Distinguished Chair in Surgery. Her husband, Hall Shannon, was one of the four co-founders of the Foundation.
____________ ____________
The Mobility Foundation gives $6.5 million to establish the Mobility Foundation Center for Rehabilitation Research. Drs. Joel Taurog and Robert Hammer confirm the creation of genetically altered rats, providing the first animal model for arthritis research.
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Ultimately, more than 1,000 researchers from six nations participated in the Human Genome Project (HGP) – the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Japan. China and Germany would The Human Genome Project logo
join the effort later. The vast majority of the sequencing was performed in 20 prestigious universities and research centers. UT Southwestern was one of 12 in the U.S. UNITED STATES 1) The Whitehead Institute/ MIT Center for Genome Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 2) Washington University School of Medicine Genome Sequencing Center, St. Louis, Missouri 3) United States DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, California 4) Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Houston, Texas
In July 1991, the U.S. Department of
6) Multimegabase Sequencing Center, The Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, Washington
FRANCE
7) University of Washington Genome Center, Seattle, Washington
JAPAN
8) University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas 9) University of Oklahoma’s Advanced Center for Genome Technology, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 10 ) Stanford Genome Technology Center, Stanford, California 11) Stanford Human Genome Center and Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 12 ) Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Lita Annenberg Hazen Genome Center, Cold Spring Harbor, New York UNITED KINGDOM
14 ) Genoscope and CNRS UMR-8030, Evry, France 15) RIKEN Genomic Sciences Center, Yokohama, Japan 16) Department of Molecular Biology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan CHINA 17) Beijing Genomics Institute/ Human Genome Center, Institute of Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China GERMANY 18) Department of Genome Analysis, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Jena, Germany 19) Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Germany 20) GBF – German Research Centre for Biotechnology, Braunschweig, Germany
13 ) The Wellcome Trust Sanger
“It is regrettable that there are so
many people in the country demanding
2000,” – a set of health indicators and
the same time doing nothing to modify
objectives – and encouraged their use by public health officials nationwide. The report cited the following sta-
state-of-the-art medical care while at
their lifestyle, even in the face of known benefits from doing so.
“Each of us has the responsibility to
tistics: of the top 10 leading causes of
not only take advantage of such
related to improper diet and lack of
encourage others to do so. The paradox
death in America each year, half were
exercise; nearly 400,000 deaths were related to smoking, and more than
100,000 deaths were alcohol-related.
Writing in the Foundation’s monthly
newsletter, Charles Sprague, MD,
President of Southwestern Medical
Foundation, sagely addressed the topic:
44
Institute, The Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
Health and Human Services and CDC
released a major study, ”Healthy People
Charles C. Sprague, MD
5) GTC Sequencing Center, Genome Therapeutics Corporation, Waltham, Massachusetts
information in our own lives but also to is that not only does it cost little or
nothing, but the savings in dollars and improved quality of life is enormous.” Nearly 25 years later, it remains a
fundamental insight into the country’s national discussion on health care.
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
O
n September 30, 1990, a monumental scientific undertaking called the Human
Genome Project (HGP) officially began. It was considered the molecular biology equivalent of landing a man on the moon. Advances in gene sequencing and other recent discoveries had made it possible to imagine the project. But it was the promise of uncovering the genetic basis of disease that gave the idea an unstoppable momentum. Researchers from around the world agreed that deciphering the human genome would serve as the foundation upon
“ [ Locating...the gene related to a disease
which to build the science, medicine and health care of the 21st century. The scope of the project was enormous — estimated to take 15 years and cost as much as $3 billion. The National Institutes of Health
is like] trying to find a burned-out light bulb in a house located somewhere between the East and West Coasts without knowing the state, much less the town or street, the house is on.”
(NIH) and the Department of Energy’s Office
Francis S. Collins, MD
Leader, U.S. Human Genome Project
of Biological and Environmental Research were prepared to provide funding. Twenty of the world’s most prestigious biomedical research laboratories would ultimately be invited to contribute.
“ The Human Genome will be the
foundation of biology for decades, centuries or millennia to come.” Sir John Sulston, FRS
UT Southwestern was one of 12 from the
Leader, UK Human Genome Project
United States.
I
n the late 1980s, federal support for biomedical research began to fall. By 1991,
although 94.7% of grant applications were recommend for approval, just over 25% were funded — down from a funding level of almost 40% four years earlier. A similar trend was occurring at the state level. The state of Texas was now providing less than 2% of UT Southwestern’s overall research budget. For fiscal year 1991– 92, support dropped to $1.7 million from $2.4 million the year earlier.
40%
25%
of approved federal grant applications funded
of approved federal grant applications funded
1988
1991
The percentage of federal grants being funded fell from roughly 40% in 1988 to 25% in 1991.
The medical school leadership determined that to continue to remain competitive with the best biomedical research facilities in the country, an additional $150 million was needed beyond the recent $100 million overall appropriation from the UT System. It was a bold decision — at the time, it
was the largest fundraising campaign for research ever undertaken by an American medical school and the largest private donor campaign of any kind ever attempted in Dallas. S O U T H W E S T E R N M E D I C A L P E R S P E C T I V E S . F A L L 2 015
45
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
Members of the philanthropic community acknowledged the need and began their support. On December 4, 1991, UT Southwestern was able to announce that four gifts totaling $85 million had been received. The O’Donnell Foundation gave a $25 million challenge gift to support neuroscience, cancer, developmental biology and genetic research. Erik Jonsson, co-founder of Texas Instruments and an ardent medical school supporter, gave $30 million in his capacity as President of the Excellence in Education Foundation. It was Eugene McDermott, Cecil Green and Jonsson — three founders of Texas Instruments — who had provided original Ross Perot congratulates Erik Jonsson, co-founder of Texas Instruments. As President of the Excellence in Education Foundation, Jonsson donated $30 million to the medical school. Standing at left are Drs. Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein.
funding for the foundation in the 1960s and 1970s. Nancy Hamon gave $25 million — $10 million to help complete what would become the Nancy B. and Jake L. Hamon Biomedical Research Building on the North Campus, and $15 million to establish two cancer
research centers and two distinguished chairs. Southwestern Medical Foundation pledged $5 million in a challenge grant to help raise matching funds for research. To complete the $150 million goal, a fundraising campaign called The Fund for Molecular Research was formally announced on October 29, 1992. It was co-chaired by two prominent Dallas businessmen: Lee Raymond, President of Exxon Corporation, and Liener Temerlin, Chairman of Temerlin McClain, one of the state’s largest advertising agencies. A total of 50 business and civic leaders stepped forward to serve on the campaign committee — many of whom were also prominent members of the Southwestern Medical Foundation Board. Drew Gaffney, MD, completed a fellowship
1991 as a payload specialist aboard STS-40
1977 and was a Faculty Associate and an
the first Spacelab mission dedicated to a
in cardiology at UT Southwestern in
a
Assistant Professor of Medicine.
From 1979 to 1987, he served as
Assistant Director of Echocardiography at
single discipline: the life sciences.
Gaffney was a co-investigator on an
experiment studying the effects of weight-
lessness on the circulatory system, the
with NASA’s Life Sciences Division.
the flight. He logged more than 218 hours
His 15 years of experience in cardiac
research and operation of equipment
46
Columbia Spacelab Life Sciences ( SLS 1 ),
Parkland. For the next two and a half years, Gaffney was a Visiting Senior Scientist
Drew Gaffney, MD
Liener Temerlin ( left ), Chairman of Temerlin McClain; Kern Wildenthal, MD, PhD, President of UT Southwestern; and Lee Raymond ( right ), President of Exxon Corporation. Temerlin and Raymond co-chaired The Fund for Molecular Research.
such as echocardiographs and rebreathing devices led to his being selected in June
largest of 20 experiments performed during in space aboard the Columbia Spacelab. The primary test subjects aboard the
shuttle mission were the astronauts,
30 rodents and thousands of tiny jellyfish.
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
199 1
John D. Minna, MD, one of the foremost lung cancer researchers and clinicians in the world, is appointed Director of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center and later leads UT Southwestern’s burgeoning cancer program.
____________
Richard B. Gaynor, MD, a graduate of UT Southwestern, considered one of the top investigators in the field of AIDS research, joins the Departments of Internal Medicine and Microbiology.
____________
Southwestern Medical Foundation creates the Community Service Award to honor individuals who have provided significant support to the improvement of medical education, medical research and patient care.
____________
Construction on the first North Campus research tower, the Simmons Biomedical Research Building, begins.
____________
Gordon Green, MD, who earned his medical degree at Southwestern Medical School, is appointed Dean of the School of Allied Health Sciences at UT Southwestern. Previously, he had done a six-year tour of duty with the United States Public Health Service, after which he became the Director of the Dallas County Department of Health. He would go on to become President of the Dallas County Medical Society and a Foundation Board Member.
____________
The Algur H. Meadows Diagnostic Imaging Center nears completion. It will serve as an imaging facility for both Zale Lipshy and Parkland hospitals. The Meadows Foundation gave $1.5 million to build the center.
____________ Gaffney’s June 1991 NASA
The Foundation receives two separate pledges from the Collins family totaling $2 million in honor of Jim Collins, former eight-term U.S. Congressman from Dallas.
Sciences 1, the campus
Margaret Thatcher visits UT Southwestern.
In recognition of Drew flight on Spacelab Life
____________
designs a “Southwestern in Space” logo, used on
publications, T-shirts and bumper stickers.
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
1992
The Fund for Molecular Research, a $150 million campaign, is formally announced — at the time, the largest fundraising campaign for research ever undertaken by an American medical school.
____________
UT Southwestern researchers begin using a “gene gun” to shoot DNA-coated micro-projectiles directly into the cells of animals. It was hoped the technique would lead to new ways of immunizing people against viral infections.
____________
The Prostate Disease Center, a collaboration between UT Southwestern and Zale Lipshy, is formed to integrate internationally known research with superb clinical skills of the physician staff.
____________
Forty-two out of the 50 Dallas doctors named in the 1992 edition of "The Best Doctors in America" are UT Southwestern faculty.
____________
The Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine, a joint venture between UT Southwestern and Presbyterian Hospital, opens. The brainchild of Benjamin D. Levine, MD, UT Southwestern Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, its mission is to use techniques of exercise and environmental Benjamin D. Levine, MD
physiology to better understand the limits of human functional capacity in health, aging and disease.
The Foundation’s Community Service Award is presented to seven remarkable individuals: Cecil H. Green, J. Erik Jonsson, George L. MacGregor, Margaret McDermott, Edith and Peter O’Donnell, Jr., and Ralph B. Rogers in celebration of Southwestern Medical School’s 50th anniversary.
____________ ____________ ____________
1993
Survivors of the Branch Davidians fire near Waco are rushed to the Parkland burn unit for treatment. The Simmons Biomedical Research Building is dedicated. Hoblitzelle Foundation pledges $1.25 million to the Foundation for The Fund for Molecular Research to establish and equip a neuroscience laboratory on the North Campus.
In 1993, the Foundation sponsors a Human Genome Project
Symposium during UT Southwestern Alumni Week on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.
Nobel Laureates Drs. James Watson, Francis Crick, Joe Goldstein
and Mike Brown headline a distinguished roster of speakers.
While speaking at an anniversary dinner, Eugene Braunwald, MD,
Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, remarks: Eugene Braunwald, MD
“There are many fine museums in the country, but only one National
Gallery of Fine Art. There are many fine musical institutions, but only one Metropolitan Opera. Likewise there are many excellent medical centers, but only one University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.” High praise indeed.
48
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
The Simmons Biomedical Building
The 11-story Simmons Biomedical Building opens in 1993. This sampleand caption It is the first research tower constructed on the North Campus is It Simmons, is here to indinamed in honor of the late Reuben Leon and Fairesscopy. Clark cate the visual weight parents of Harold Simmons. of a caption and to FEATURED DEPARTMENTS, LABS, CENTERS AND PROGRAMS suggest the approximate length of the » Multiple Neuroscience Research Labs caption. Please do not » Developmental Biology Program ( funded by read a giftt at from this time.. the Excellence in Education Foundation )
» Department of Pathology ( two floors ) » The Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center » The Cancer Immunobiology Center » Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development
» The Program for Excellence in Postgraduate Research » Frank M. Ryburn, Jr. Cardiac Center
In 1988, shortly after the land was acquired
The commitment included funds to
from the John T. and Catherine T. MacArthur
complete the Simmons Biomedical Building,
Foundation by UT Southwestern, Harold
provide additional funding for cancer
Simmons made an unprecedented $41 million
research and help establish the Harold C.
commitment that would begin development
Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center.
of the North Campus. At the time, it was
Harold and Annette Simmons
T
Simmons’ support of Southwestern Medical
the largest philanthropic gift in Dallas history
Foundation became exceedingly important
and ranked as one of the largest donations
in advancing scientific and medical research at
ever made for medical research in the U.S.
UT Southwestern.
he completion of the Simmons Biomedical Research Building in 1993 was a landmark
achievement. The building was designed to accommodate a mix of basic science and clinical researchers. Laboratory space could be customized to meet the needs
“ There’s a very synergistic working
of specific kinds of research. In combination with the unique
environment. That’s one of the things that attracted me.”
esprit de corps that existed between departments, the new building became a powerful recruiting tool to attract and hold a critical mass of “movers and shakers.” During the 1990s, hundreds of researchers and clinicians
Luis F. Parada, PhD
Director of the Center for Developmental Biology
were recruited, including John Minna, MD, world renowned as a leader in the genetics of lung cancer; R. Sanders Williams, MD, an internationally
recognized researcher and highly regarded clinician and teacher in molecular cardiology; and Luis Parada, MD, one of the most-cited research scientists in developmental biology in the world at the time. S O U T H W E S T E R N M E D I C A L P E R S P E C T I V E S . F A L L 2 015
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
Z
ale Lipshy Hospital was also attracting outstanding specialists. The medical center expanded its list of medical specialties to include pain management,
auditory and facial nerve disorders, prostate cancer, lung cancer and breast cancer — and the hospital began to attract patients from all over the country. “A lot of schools had one star here and there,” Maddrey recalled. “We were building teams of stars.”
T
he first Gulf War began in 1990 and ended the following year. Some 700,000 soldiers —
100,000 from Texas — were sent to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein. When the veterans returned home, thousands of men and women streamed into veterans hospitals complaining of memory loss, cloudy thinking, balance problems, insomnia, constant headaches and body pain. As many as 100,000 were thought to be affected. Physicians had no explanation for their symptoms and assigned a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Affected veterans insisted something far more serious was wrong, but skepticism regarding the legitimacy of their illness grew. “It [was] very hard not being believed, being told it’s all in your head,” a top Special Forces officer explained. Ross Perot, who had long been known as a steadfast supporter of Vietnam POWs and injured veterans, fielded dozens of distressed calls from men he knew before the war — veterans who had looked forward to promising careers but were now struggling with the most basic aspects of daily living. “It was obvious these men had been wounded,” Perot said. In 1994, Perot approached UT Southwestern specialists for help. When diagnosis and treatment proved elusive, Perot was introduced to Robert W. Haley, MD, Director of the Division of Epidemiology. Perot proposed a $1.5 Outside Dallas, H. Ross Perot is perhaps best known for being an independent
million grant to investigate “Gulf War Syndrome.” Haley agreed. When he began, Haley neither accepted nor rejected the idea that
presidential candidate in 1992 and 1996.
Gulf War veterans were suffering from post-traumatic
In 1962, Perot founded Electronic Data
stress. But after several years of research, enabled by
Systems (EDS) and sold the company to General Motors in 1984. In 1988, he
additional funding from Perot, he came to the conclusion
founded Perot Systems Corporation.
that many veterans had indeed suffered brain injuries
Perot was born in Texarkana, Texas. He became an Eagle Scout in 1942 and attended Texarkana Junior College before entering the U.S. Naval Academy in 1949. In 1956, Perot married Margot Birmingham.
that were likely caused by exposure to low levels of sarin gas, pesticides and anti-nerve-gas pills. The Defense Department and Veteran’s Administration
Robert W. Haley, MD
were unconvinced and continued to believe that combat stress was the correct diagnosis.
Determined to answer the many unexplained questions, Haley and his team continued their research with financial support from Perot and the medical center’s blessing. 50
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
199 4
Alfred G. Gilman, MD, PhD, is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, making UT Southwestern home to more Nobel Laureates than any other medical school in the world.
____________
In September, Southwestern Medical Foundation sponsors an important public forum. The event features Nobel Laureates Drs. Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein discussing the Human Genome Project and some of the ethical questions it raises, which draws an unexpectedly large crowd of more than 1,000 people. “We had no idea we would have such a tremendous response,” Sprague says.
____________ ____________ ____________
Paul Bass, Jess Hay and Donald Zale receive Southwestern Medical Foundation’s Community Service Award. Jean and J. Thomas Walter, Jr. pledge $1 million to establish the Jean Walter Center for Movement Disorders. Parkland Memorial becomes the first hospital in Texas to win the prestigious Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service.
____________
Following NASA’s
award of $5 million to UT Southwestern for
space medicine research, NASA’s only Specialized Center of Research and Training in Physiology is established.
____________
The General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at UT Southwestern celebrates its 20th anniversary as one of the oldest federally funded clinical research centers in the nation. It has been home to pioneering research in areas such as cholesterol metabolism, diabetes, osteoporosis, hypertension, neurological disorders and space medicine. Charles Pak, MD, serves as principal investigator, a position once held by Donald Seldin, MD.
In December, a handwritten note addressed to Dr. Sprague arrives without ceremony in Southwestern Medical Foundation’s office mail.
Charlie — Have you ever been informed that the Foundation is in my will with probability of over $1,000,000? Okay? Holiday Best Wishes to you — Louise
The note is from Louise Kahn, who will pass away a year later, leaving a percentage
of her estate to the Foundation. The donation (more than $1 million ) will be used to create the Louise W. Kahn Scholar in Biomedical Research.
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
4
NO.
“ a basic discovery should be looked upon as sort of an underground spring that nourishes many oases in the desert. So when people ask, ‘What practical benefit is Al Gilman’s work going to be?’ it’s like asking, ‘What can you grow from an underground spring?' Pretty soon we’re going to have a beautiful garden all nourished by the kind of work he has done — the revolutionary work that exposed a whole new aspect of biology that no one, frankly, knew existed before.”
Michael S. Brown, MD, Nobel Laureate
“ nobody wins the Nobel Prize. You earn the Nobel Prize.”
Ross Perot
“ nobel week in Stockholm is one giant party that goes on from morning to night and never seems to end. Al can look forward to a gala week — full of protocol, alcohol and cholesterol. My advice to Al, the pharmacologist, is to take along some Tylenol.”
52 52
Joseph L. Goldstein, MD, Nobel Laureate
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
and then it happened
again.
Great intellect, dogged determination and relentless curiosity were rewarded on October 10, 1994, when the Nobel Prize Committee announced that Alfred G. Gilman, MD, PhD, Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology, had won the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physiology or
“ My reaction? First I activated
Medicine for his discovery of G-proteins and the
my receptor, then my G-protein, etc. I was extremely excited. I think I secreted all the adrenaline I had. Then I poured myself a big glass of Coke, because I was suddenly thirsty, and I proceeded to spill it all over the telephone
role they play in cellular communication. He shared the prize with Martin Rodbell, MD, at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina. Gilman had maintained his intense focus over the course of three decades, earning him
when the first reporter called.”
election to the National Academy of Sciences (1985), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1988), and the Institute of Medicine (1989) and garnering
Alfred G. Gilman, MD, PhD Nobel Laureate
him the Lasker Award (1989), among others. But nothing quite compares to becoming a Nobel Laureate. “Someday you’ll be able to design a drug that works on only the molecule you want to target and on no other molecules in the human body,” Gilman predicted at the time. G-proteins rest at the inner surface of the cell membrane. When a neurotransmitter or hormone arrives outside the cell, it doesn’t enter the cell directly; instead, it binds to a receptor on the cell’s surface. This attachment triggers a specific G-protein, one of many, to switch from “off” to “on.” The activated G-protein enlists other proteins to begin specific cellular activities. Gilman found that each G-protein has a “timer,” allowing the cellular activity to continue only as long as the G-protein remains “on.” In addition, he found that any disruption in the normal operation of “off to on” and “on to off” might lead to disease, even cancer. His groundbreaking research incited untold numbers of researchers around the world to further the understanding of the roles G-proteins play in human disease. Gilman acknowledged the support of his research team, which especially included Elliott Ross, PhD, and Paul Sternweis, PhD, both of whom became independent investigators in the Department of Gilman and his team used leukemia cells to identify and demonstrate G-proteins, which receive multiple signals from outside the cell, integrate them and control fundamental life processes within the cell.
Pharmacology. He later wrote, “It is easy to be a successful Chair in Dallas; our administration, particularly President Kern Wildenthal and Dean William Neaves, and local philanthropists ensure it.” UT Southwestern was now home to four Nobel Laureates — more than any other medical school or research institute in the world — an unprecedented achievement even among the most elite universities. S O U T H W E S T E R N M E D I C A L P E R S P E C T I V E S . F A L L 2 015
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
T
hroughout the country, articles on diet, active lifestyles and the health benefits of certain foods appeared with greater frequency. They contained a steady stream of do’s and don’ts and, on occasion, contradictory information. By the mid-1990s, the inconsistencies of dietary advice became more generally recognized. In 1994, the New England Journal of Medicine raised the question: “What should the public believe?...They substitute margarine for butter, only to learn that margarine may be worse for the arteries. They are told to eat oat bran to lower their cholesterol, but later learn that the bran they dutifully ate may be useless.” One of the unintended consequences of the nation’s “fat-free crusade” to lower cholesterol was that much of the public came to believe that if their food didn’t contain fat, eating it wouldn’t make them fat.
Scott Grundy, MD, PhD, Director of the Center for Human Nutrition, is a pioneer in research involving cholesterol and lipoprotein
The food industry substituted trans fats for animal fats, which at the time were seen as a healthier alternative to saturated fats, and
metabolisms. He became one of the prime
replaced calories from fat with sugar, leaving many “low-fat” food
movers in helping American physicians
products with the same calorie content.
recognize metabolic syndrome as an
The great irony was that with the introduction of more and more
important risk factor for heart disease.
fat-free and reduced-fat products, Americans grew fatter. The focus on fat calories to the neglect of carbohydrate calories contributed — along with a more sedentary lifestyle and other factors — to an alarming obesity epidemic sweeping the country. Up until the early 1980s, obesity rates across America had remained between 12% to 14%. But by 1990, rates had risen to 25% and, perhaps of greater concern, were continuing to rise.
Ironically, the fat-free and low-fat diet crusade helped contribute to America’s obesity epidemic.
Across the medical school, research began to focus on the metabolic syndrome, a field of study defined by a group of conditions — increased blood
“ Our emphasis began to shift as
it became clear that the obesity problem in America had become significant.”
Scott Grundy, MD, PhD
pressure, a high blood sugar level, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels — that occur together, increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Along with statin research, which was showing how powerful the drug was in
reducing heart attacks, “the metabolic syndrome was something many at Southwestern became extremely interested in understanding,” Grundy said. 54
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
1995
The Fund for Molecular Research ends, surpassing its $150 million goal by more than $8.5 million.
____________ ____________
Charles C. Sprague, MD, receives Southwestern Medical Foundation’s Ho Din Award. The Heritage Society of Southwestern Medical Foundation is created to recognize individuals who have made a planned gift or have included a bequest to the Foundation in their wills.
____________
The Foundation’s Community Service Award honors Ruth Altshuler, Annette and Harold Simmons, and Joe M. Dealey.
____________
J. Erik Jonsson, former Dallas Mayor, co-founder of Texas Instruments and longtime supporter of Southwestern Medical Foundation and UT Southwestern, dies.
____________
James W. Aston dies, leaving the Foundation and the entire Dallas community enriched by nearly 50 years of his visionary leadership.
____________
Paul M. Bass (far left) is elected
Chairman of Southwestern Medical Foundation, and W. Plack Carr, Jr.,
a member of the Foundation Board since 1992, is elected President.
During the 1990s, managed care
costs and/or quality of care.
the dominant form of private-sector
hospitals across the country, suffered an
displaced indemnity insurance to become health insurance.
Between 1987 and 1997, privately
insured Americans enrolled in Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs)
increased from 16% to 48% nationally. The 1990s were a period of rapid growth in managed care.
Over the same period, those enrolled in Preferred Provider Organizations
Zale Lipshy, like most university
additional financial disadvantage.
University hospital operations had far greater overhead: medical student
educational programs, clinical research activities, and the need for the latest
medical equipment and technology.
As a result, Sprague, acting in his role
(PPOs) increased from 11% to over 25%.
as President of the Foundation, made
care organizations had significant effects
help Zale Lipshy maintain its reputation
The tremendous growth of managed
on the health care market, among them the competitive pressures placed on
other providers leading them to reduce
the appeal for donations earmarked to for excellence. It was an appeal heard
and acted on by the caring people of the Dallas community.
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
1995 [ CONT. ]
The Hamon Biomedical Research Building
The eight-story Hamon Biomedical Research Building opens in 1995. It is the second research tower to be completed on the North Campus and is named in honor of Nancy B. and Jake L. Hamon. FEATURED DEPARTMENTS, LABS, CENTERS AND PROGRAMS
» Department of Molecular Biology and Oncology » Department of Microbiology » Hamon Center for Basic Research in Cancer » The Molecular Immunology Center » McDermott Genome Science and Technology Center » Genetics and Development Graduate Program » Molecular Microbiology Graduate Program
Nancy Hamon worked in Hollywood
Hamons’ guesthouse, and they worked for the
and appeared in several 1940s films before
couple by driving them to various functions.
returning to Texas and marrying famed oilman
challenge grant to launch a campaign to build
her son in 1984 and her husband in 1985, she
the Bryan Williams, MD, Student Center.
devoted her life to philanthropy.
The campaign was co-chaired by Charles A.
Mrs. Hamon’s gifts to UT Southwestern included a $25 million donation in 1994 to the Fund for Molecular Research campaign; Nancy Hamon
Sanders, M D (class of ’65), and Fred Lucas, MD (class of ’61). “I wanted to do something at the medical
$15 million of that gift established the Nancy
school that would honor Bryan Williams
B. and Jake L. Hamon Center for Therapeutic
for all those years he spent helping students,”
Oncology Research, the Nancy B. and Jake L.
Mrs. Hamon said. “So when he mentioned that
Hamon Center for Basic Research in Cancer
they didn’t have any place to relax or exercise,
and two Distinguished Chairs in those fields.
I told him I would like to help.”
The remaining funds were used to help
In 1994, Mrs. Hamon received the
construct the Nancy B. and Jake L. Hamon
Linz Award, which honors a Dallas County
Biomedical Research Building.
resident’s humanitarian and civic efforts.
In the 1980s, the Hamons, through Dr.
56
In 1999, Mrs. Hamon gave a $4 million
Jake Hamon in 1949. After the deaths of
“Nancy Hamon’s philanthropy is legendary.
Bryan Williams at the medical school, realized
Her continued support of Southwestern
that many of the students were in need
Medical Foundation and UT Southwestern has
of housing but had limited funds. Williams
turned countless dreams into reality,” said
arranged for some of the students to live in the
then Foundation President W. Plack Carr, Jr.
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
P
hilanthropy can create an unbroken path to the future where one good thing leads
to another. But a proper appreciation of its longer-term effects takes closer examination. The following account from the mid-1990s is an excellent example. UT Southwestern was actively pursuing Glen A. Evans, MD, PhD, who was working at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California. Evans was world renowned for having established one of the nation's first and finest genetic research centers. The medical center wanted him as the Director of the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development and to lead UT Southwestern’s participation in the Human Genome Project. Eugene McDermott had established the farsighted Center in 1973, shortly before his death in August that same year. It was one of many generous and visionary acts he and his wife, Margaret, had made in support of UT Southwestern with the elegant and noble goal of “maximizing
Glen Evans, MD, PhD, one of the
everyone’s capacities for thinking and doing.”
world’s research leaders in the Human Genome Project, was recruited
The Biological Humanics Foundation, then headed by Mary McDermott
from the Salk Institute in California.
Cook and established by her father in 1950, donated its last and largest gift of
$6 million, with almost $5 million earmarked to further enhance the Center. The gift was then matched by monies from The Fund for Molecular Research. The total endowment allowed the medical school not only to attract a researcher of Evans’ stature, but to move his team of scientists, technicians — even his equipment — from California to Dallas, where they took over 10,000 square feet located in the newly completed Nancy B. and Jake L. Hamon Mary McDermott Cook, daughter of Margaret and Eugene McDermott, continued the family’s philanthropic legacy.
Biomedical Research Building on the North Campus. “We were very fortunate in moving to an institution where the administration is so forward-thinking and, in fact, confident about their ability to recruit from elsewhere. Skip Garner ( Evans’ assistant director) and I had designed the entire 10,000 square feet
of laboratory space. It [had ] a lot of unique features… [and] was actually under construction before we ever committed to coming to Southwestern, which shows
“ What we’re accomplishing here,
we couldn’t have done anywhere else.”
the confidence they had that we wouldn’t turn them down,” Evans recalled.
Glen A. Evans, MD, PhD
Director of the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development
Few academic medical centers in the country could have put together such an offer. But few medical centers have the broad, committed support of a medical foundation determined to push them forward. Evans and Harold “Skip” Garner, Jr., PhD, who was trained as a nuclear physicist, went on to make a difference. Evans led a team that completed the sequencing of chromosome 11 — work he had begun at the Salk Institute. S O U T H W E S T E R N M E D I C A L P E R S P E C T I V E S . F A L L 2 015
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
From the outset, Garner and Evans focused their efforts on automation. Garner developed automating sequencing technology, which used three custom robots to do much of the repetitive work. One of them ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week, preparing samples to go in the sequencing machine. It proved amazingly efficient — capable of preparing 15,000 samples a day, as opposed to the 200 samples a human
“ Since Evans’ arrival, his program
technician could prepare.
[has] grown to become one of the largest Human Genome Centers in the country…he and his colleagues [have been] awarded multiyear grants totaling over $20 million.”
The innovations led to something unique among sequencing labs. Evans declared that instead of a “laboratory full of bored, uninspired technicians,” his sequencing team had “the
time to study the biology of what these
Kern Wildenthal, MD, PhD President, UT Southwestern
[discoveries] mean.” It was philanthropy that made this possible – a contribution of vision and generosity, effort and discrimination that resulted not just in a series of good things for UT Southwestern but of good things for mankind. This is but one of dozens of examples that did much to help the medical center grow.
Unlike those involved with most “big science” research projects, researchers with the Human Genome Project didn’t have to wait for the work to be complete before they could get results. Among the first genes identified by the medical center’s Genome Science and Technology Center (GESTEC ) was one linked with hereditary multiple exostoses type 2
– a disease that disrupts bone growth and – found on chromosome 11.
predisposes its sufferers to bone cancer
It was announced by Glen Evans, MD, PhD, and Michael Lovett, PhD. Before genetic researchers can identify how a gene might affect disease and health, they first have to find it. Lovett was a skilled gene mapmaker who developed a technology that sped up the process A human karyotype showing 22 chromosome pairs, plus an XY (male) sex chromosome pair, under a simple light microscope.
of finding and analyzing genes. One gene, BRCA1, which is involved in familial breast cancer, was isolated (at other institutions) with the type of technology Lovett developed. UT Southwestern researchers were also investigating Wilms’ tumor, a kidney cancer most common in children, and long QT syndrome, a heart disease that was thought to be the cause of cardiac arrest in young adults, among others.
I
n 1995, the Fund for Molecular Research campaign was ending. The effort had been a monumental success, surpassing its $150 million goal by
more than $8.5 million — an unprecedented accomplishment aided by the hard work of the Campaign Committee and Southwestern Medical Foundation and achieved through the extraordinary generosity of the people of Dallas. 58
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
199 6
Eric Olson, PhD, is recruited as Chairman of new Department of Molecular Biology and Oncology.
____________
The name of Southwestern Medical Foundation’s Community Service Award is changed to the Charles Cameron Sprague Community Service Award in honor of Dr. Sprague, who is at the time both President Emeritus of UT Southwestern and Chairman Emeritus of the Foundation.
____________
The Perot Foundation donates an additional $23.3 million to continue the Medical Science Training Program (MSTP) and enhance biomedical research.
____________
For the second time in three years, Kimberly-Clark Corporation pledges $1 million to the Foundation to benefit research at UT Southwestern.
____________ ____________
Steven McKnight, PhD, becomes Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry.
Ronald W. Estabrook, PhD
Despite concerns about chemical
naturally in foods may pose a greater
food additives and the use of
risk of causing cancer than the
pesticides on crops causing cancer,
residues of synthetic pesticides that
a poor diet is likely to pose a far
people consume in their diet.
greater risk, determines a National
But the danger of either group of
Research Council committee
chemicals causing cancer is much
chaired by Ronald W. Estabrook,
smaller than the risk associated with
PhD, Professor of Biochemistry at
diets containing too much fat,
UT Southwestern.
too many calories or an excess of
“Toxic chemicals that occur
alcohol,” the report concludes.
In 1996, Glen Evans, MD, PhD, Director of the
round towers in the center of the room; along
and Development, gave a talk to members
The boxes are...automated gene sequencers...
Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth of the Philosophical Society of Texas about his work on the Human Genome Project.
In describing his DNA sequencing lab,
he referenced a more famous graduate of the
the walls rows of waist-high stainless steel boxes. being run by a Cray supercomputer.”
“Without realizing it,” Evans explained,
“Crichton described the laboratory that we constructed [ just ] two years ago here at
Salk Institute, Michael Crichton.
Southwestern...using a battery of automated
Salk but became better known as the author
by a Cray supercomputer, which is obsolete...
Crichton was a postdoctoral fellow of Jonas
of Jurassic Park (1990), in which a commercial
company sequences the DNA of dinosaurs after extracting it from insects embedded in amber. In the book, Crichton describes the
sequencing laboratory as “two six-foot-tall
gene sequencers...and in our case, run not
but by a Hewlett- Packard Exemplar parallel processing supercomputer.”
He concluded: “In essence [ his ] description...
is exactly what has come to pass.”
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
The Foundation receives a $1 million grant from the E.E. Fogelson and Greer Garson Fogelson Charitable Foundation to create a Distinguished Chair and expand the endowment of an existing Distinguished Chair.
199 7
____________
Robert W. Haley, MD, and his team’s ongoing research into Gulf War Syndrome confirms that neurotoxic brain damage from exposure to wartime chemicals is linked to a genetic predisposition.
____________
John Rutherford, MD, Professor of Internal Medicine, is one of the senior investigators on an important five-year study showing that lowering normal cholesterol levels can dramatically reduce the risk of a second heart attack.
____________ ____________ ____________
Dorothy L. and John P. Harbin give $1 million to the Foundation to enhance Alzheimer’s disease research. Robert T. Hayes makes a $1 million gift to the Foundation to fund psychiatric research.
Ross and Margot Perot are awarded the Foundation’s Charles Cameron Sprague Community Service Award. Earlier in the year, the Perot Foundation added an additional $23.3 million to further enhance biomedical research and continue the Medical Science Training Program ( MSTP ). “It was vital to this country then,” Dr. Kern Wildenthal says, referring to Perot’s original MSTP gift, “and even more so today that these programs continue to grow to fill the nation’s research needs.” Ross and Margot Perot
Among the Perot Foundation’s many gifts to UT Southwestern are two of the largest pledges ever made to a public university or medical school.
Jonathan Uhr, MD, came to Texas
recruits, Ellen Vitetta, PhD.
Internal Medicine, recruited him to
from New York, he made it clear
when Donald Seldin, MD, then Chair of Chair the Department of Microbiology. Uhr was already an internationally
known biomedical researcher. Dr. Uhr has been at the forefront of many
seminal discoveries in immunology. He first demonstrated the role of passive antibody feedback — a body of work Jonathan Uhr, MD
that his goal was to create the best Microbiology Department in the
country, with a very strong immunology component,” said Vitetta, an NAS
member and one of the most highly cited researchers in the country.
“When I saw the list of people he
that led to the prevention of Rh disease.
had brought on board...I knew it would
Chair, having grown the Department
not disappointed.”
In 1997, he celebrated 25 years as
from three faculty members to 27. That
be a fantastic place to work. I was
Vitetta would later train Linda Buck,
same year, he stepped down to join the
PhD, who went on to become an NAS
by one of his most accomplished
Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Cancer Immunobiology Center, directed
60
“When Jon Uhr recruited me here
member and to win the 2004 Nobel
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
I
n 1996, Steven McKnight, PhD, became head of the Department of Biochemistry,
replacing Joe Sambrook, PhD, who had left for Australia. McKnight was born and raised in Texas. He did his postdoctoral research at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, DC, became a staff member there in 1983, and was appointed a Howard Hughes Investigator in 1988. In 1991, McKnight left academia to co-found Tularik, a San Franciscobased biotechnology company. Steven McKnight, PhD
“Bill (Neaves) told me with quiet determination…that he fully expected me to end up at Southwestern once Tularik was on its feet. Brown and Goldstein
were equally adamant. This continued interest by the UT Southwestern leadership impressed me a lot,” McKnight recalled. McKnight’s recruitment was facilitated by a significant financial incentive provided by an anonymous Dallas donor. It would prove to be a farsighted decision.
H
aley and his research team continued their research of Gulf War syndrome. By 1997, they had confirmed that neurotoxic brain damage from exposure to wartime
chemicals was linked to a genetic predisposition. Haley briefed the nation’s top military and political leaders and testified before Congress. Perot had called it the “ultimate insult” that the government had fought against the people it sent to war. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison agreed with Perot and got involved. As Chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee and a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Hutchison was in the perfect position to make a difference. “I couldn’t understand why we were spending so much money trying to prove it didn’t exist,” Senator Hutchison said. In 1998, she secured federal funding that allowed Gulf War syndrome research to continue, which resulted in research that played a pivotal role in the military’s recognition of the reality of Gulf War syndrome and the severity of its impact on veterans. Haley was able to show the presence of a gene that
Thomas Kurt, MD, and Robert W. Haley, MD, review magnetic resonance brain images. They collaborated with Jim Hom, PhD, and other UT Southwestern faculty on clinical and animal studies that demonstrated harmless doses of three chemicals used to protect Gulf War soldiers from insect-borne diseases and nervegas poisoning are highly toxic to the nervous system when used in combination. At right is the January 15, 1997, cover of the Journal
controlled the production of a specific enzyme that allowed the
of the American Medical Association ( JAMA), in which
body to fight off chemical toxins by destroying them. This provided
their three initial papers on Gulf War illness were
the explanation of why one person might be severely injured and the person standing next to him or her was not affected.
published together – a feat that has never been done before or since by a single research team.
Still, exactly how, when and where the troops had become exposed to the chemicals and how they damaged brain cells remained mysteries that would take Haley and his team of researchers another 15 years to uncover. S O U T H W E S T E R N M E D I C A L P E R S P E C T I V E S . F A L L 2 015
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
I
n 1998, the O’Donnell Foundation helped establish the Endowed Scholars Program
in Medical Science with a $25 million challenge grant. It inspired $35 million in additional donations — including $5 million each from the W.W. Caruth Jr. Foundation, the Virginia Murchinson Linthicum Trust and Southwestern Medical Foundation. While the Medical Scientist Training Program that Perot had funded was designed to attract top students, the Endowed Scholars Program was created to attract and retain the world’s best young faculty at the beginning of their careers. It offered a package of generous research support for a new faculty member’s first four years, as well as the opportunity to work side by side with Nobel-caliber mentors. The Endowed Scholars Program would prove extraordinarily valuable as many brilliant young men and women made the decision to continue their careers at the medical school. North Campus is today, and he looked at
and the brain. If you are convinced of it, you
me and said, “We’ll need this land one day.”
put your money into it.
SWMF: What remarkable insight.
SWMF: Brown and Goldstein?
O’DONNELL: I have thought about this a
O’DONNELL: They were exceptionally im-
lot. When recruiting talent – dollars, space
portant during this period, no question. But I
and colleagues are all critical. But if you don't
think what’s so marvelous is that they contin-
have the space, you're in trouble. Solving that
ue to do important work and are incredibly
is the number one problem. We would have
valuable to the school. That’s our roots,
been landlocked like so many other medical
and we’re still getting the benefit. I asked
schools. We are able to recruit and grow
Joe to join the Board of Cooper Aerobics
today because we’ve got the land.
Center. He is quiet, but people really listen
SWMF: Anything you can share about Don
when he speaks. He gets calls from all over
Seldin?
the world because what he and Mike Brown
Southwestern Medical Foundation recently sat down with Peter O’Donnell and invited him to share his memories and talk about the future.
O’DONNELL: It's impossible to overesti-
are doing continues beyond their original
mate the impact he's had here. Seldin took
work. They're doing tremendous things.
on Goldstein and Brown and mentored them.
SWMF: What do you see going forward?
SWMF: You were good friends with Philip
Seldin spotted Al Gilman. I asked Al one time
O’DONNELL: I believe there is a strong need
O’Bryan “P. O’B.” Montgomery. What can
how he'd gotten to UT Southwestern. Al was
to mentor young MDs who can be trained to
you tell us about him?
at Case Western. He told me, “Dr. Seldin
be clinicians. There is a human component
O’DONNELL: I watched my friend Phil
came to see me, and in 45 minutes he blew
that shouldn't be left behind as we advance
Montgomery devote half a century to serving
me away.” Seldin is an outstanding presenter.
technologically. An outstanding doctor and a
Peter and Edith O’Donnell
UT Southwestern. He was an educator, a
Having that keen eye for talent has been
good friend at the school embodies this idea,
researcher and an associate dean....For many
the difference maker. Goldstein and Brown
Dr. Gene Frenkel. I’d start with oncology and
people in the community, he was an unpaid
spotted Scott Grundy when I was deter-
roll it out through all the departments. My in-
consultant who referred them to experts at
mined to put the study of human nutrition on
terest extends to both physicians and nurses.
the medical center for their health problems.
scientific foundation at the school. It was a
SWMF: Do you see your role over the years
bit of an uphill battle, beginning a Center for
through the lens of a businessperson?
in UT Southwestern. Early on, he asked me
Human Nutrition, but we got it done.
O’DONNELL: I’m not a businessperson; I’m
to support a research project: the UV flying
SWMF: It’s interesting that people needed
an investor. But in the case of the medical
spot microscope. From there I was hooked.
convincing.
school, the return on investment is not mea-
O’DONNELL: I ran across a saying a long
sured in profits but in enduring and positive
“Goldstein and Brown will win the Nobel
time ago that I never forgot: “Obstacles are
leadership.
Prize.” In 1985, they did. In 1988, he said:
what you see when you take your eye off the
SWMF: On behalf of the Foundation and
“Gilman will win it.” He had an eye for talent.
goal.” I resolved to never take my eye off the
the medical school, we thank you and Edith
One day, I picked him up and we were
goal. I've had a long interest in nutrition and
for your tremendous vision, tenacity and
driving along on Inwood Road, by where the
systems biology, as well as in neuroscience
extraordinary generosity.
P. O’B. was the reason I got interested
I remember in 1980, P. O’B. told me:
62
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
Beginning in 1998, The Cain Foundation, William P. Clements, Jr., Thomas O. Hicks, Nancy Cain and Jeffrey A. Marcus, the McDermott Foundation, Deborah and W. A.“Tex” Moncrief, Jr., and Michael L. Rosenberg each give $1.25 million to the Endowed Scholars Program.
199 8
____________
Eugene Frenkel, MD
Sydney and J. L. Huffines donate
whose research on transport
$1 million to Southwestern
mechanisms of vitamin B12 led to
Medical Foundation to establish
studies of drug delivery and drug
a Distinguished Chair in cancer
resistance in cancer chemothera-
research in honor of Eugene
py. “Dr. Frenkel is a very, very fine
Frenkel, MD. Frenkel, a Professor
person,” Huffines said, “...one of
of Medicine in the Harold C.
the last old-time doctors with a
Simmons Comprehensive Cancer
true bedside manner. He is more
Center, joined the faculty in 1962.
than deserving of any honor.”
He is a hematologist/oncologist
____________
William B. Neaves, PhD, who joined
Campus should not and cannot
the UT Southwestern faculty in 1972 as
become a site devoted exclusively or
Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, is
predominately to basic research.
appointed Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs while continuing as interim Dean of the Medical School. “Bill has always played a crucial Bill Neaves, PhD
“My goal...is to see it evolve with a mixture of basic and clinical faculty characteristic of the successful development of our main campus. I’m referring
role in recruiting and retaining gifted
to the ability of people from different
faculty members and in enhancing our
departments and disciplines – basic on
international prominence in education,
the one hand and clinical on the other –
research and clinical programs,” says
to walk down the hall and interact
Dr. Kern Wildenthal.
with each other and form affinity groups
Before the North Campus was developed, Neaves held to an unwavering
based on their common interest in a particular biomedical problem.”
vision: “I want to stress that the North
____________
It was a vision now underway.
Eric Olson, MD, Chairman of Molecular Biology and Oncology, and his team discover both a molecular pathway that leads to heart enlargement and a way to block it using a drug already approved by the FDA ( but for another condition ).
Eric Olson, MD
____________ ____________
Bob Smith, MD, donates $1 million to the Foundation to fund prostate research. Woodring Wright, MD, PhD; Jerry Shay, PhD; and their collaborators report that the enzyme telomerase causes human cells grown in the laboratory to retain their “ youth” – continuing to divide long past the time they normally stop.
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199 9
Adelyn and Edmund M. Hoffman donate $1 million to establish a Distinguished Chair in support of the medical center’s growing clinical program. Adelyn will later establish a $5 million fund for research in DNA-based epidemiology.
____________
The Seay Biomedical Building
The eight-story Seay Biomedical Building opens in 1999 — the third research tower to be built on the North Campus. FEATURED DEPARTMENTS, LABS AND CENTERS
» Clinical facilities for Internal Medicine, Psychiatry and Surgery
» Seay Center for Basic and Applied Research in Psychiatric Illness
» The Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center » The Center for Biomedical Inventions » Outpatient clinics for psychiatry and cancer patients
In 1993, a gift of $10 million from Charles E. and Sarah “Sadie” Seay helped build the
fund the first pediatric intensive care unit
on the North Campus.
at Bradford Hospital for Babies, which later
and married in 1937. Charlie Seay began
became Children’s Medical Center. In the 1960s, the Seays enabled Children’s
his career as an insurance agent and later
Medical Center Dallas to establish the first
launched his own business, specializing in
pediatric psychiatric facility in the area.
life insurance stocks. For more than half a century, the Seays were legendary champions of children. Their gift of $11.5 million established the
Their donations in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s also made possible the Sarah M. and Charles E. Seay Emergency Referral Center and the Seay Intensive Care Unit at
Sarah M. and Charles E. Seay Comprehensive
Children’s and the Luke Waites Child
Center of Pediatric Emergency and Intensive
Development Center at Texas Scottish
Care through a charitable remainder trust at
Rite Hospital.
Southwestern Medical Foundation. The Seays endowed five Centers, three Distinguished Chairs and four Chairs – one in
____________
“They are two of the most unselfish people I have ever known,” said Paul Bass, Chairman of the Foundation.
Kenneth Altshuler, MD, Chairman of the
support. Altshuler had built the department
Department of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern,
to national stature and scientific reputation.
was influential in advising Charles and Sarah
In 1999, then Governor George W. Bush
Seay on the needs of the medical school
appointed him a member of the Board
and the community in psychiatric research
of Directors of the Texas Department of
and treatment and in gaining the Seays'
Mental Health and Mental Retardation.
Kenneth Altshuler, MD
64
In the early 1950s, the couple helped
Seay Biomedical Building, the third tower The Seays met as students at UT Austin
Charles E. and Sarah Seay
pediatric infectious diseases.
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
I
n the late 1990s, the head of Cardiology, R. Sanders Williams, MD, told Helen Hobbs,
MD, about a call for applications from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation in Las Vegas. The Reynolds Foundation was offering what would become a 10-year, nearly $60 million grant to create a Center for Cardiovascular Disease research. “I wasn’t very enthusiastic about it,” Hobbs recalls. Her lab had recently identified two recessive forms of severe high cholesterol, an exciting discovery that called for its own new research. That and the sheer size of the grant, which ensured a crowded field of the country’s top academic medical centers, made the opportunity a long shot at best. Ultimately, however, Hobbs and Ron Victor, MD, now Director of the Hypertension Center at Cedars-Sinai's Heart Institute in Los Angeles, accepted the challenge and became Co-Principal Investigators. After the initial review, UT Southwestern emerged as one of the five finalists — an elite group that included Johns Hopkins, Duke, Harvard and the University Helen Hobbs, MD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular Genetics
of California at San Francisco. The centerpiece of the medical school’s proposal was the Dallas Heart Study (DHS), which incorporated a sample population of more than 6,000 adults from Dallas County. The study combined the best features of laboratory and population-based research. Its key design feature — captured in its theme: Taking Diversity to Heart — was to effectively leverage the genetic diversity in Dallas. The goal was to identify new genetic, protein and imaging biomarkers that could detect cardiovascular disease at its earliest
“ We’re one of the few places in the world that has people working on the fundamental mechanisms of heart disease as well as on improving care to individuals in the community.”
Helen Hobbs, M D
stages. It was also designed to examine the social, behavioral and environmental factors contributing to cardiovascular risk in order to find effective interventions. In 1999, the team's efforts were rewarded with the first of many Reynolds Foundation grants going to UT Southwestern. The result was the establishment of the Donald W. Reynolds Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center, a multidisciplinary collaboration among geneticists, epidemiologists, and clinical and molecular biologists. Over the next 25 years, the collaboration would lead to the discoveries of major genes and proteins that contribute to heart and metabolic disease. The Dallas Heart Study has become one of UT Southwestern’s greatest research projects. The data gathered has been, and will continue for decades to be, an invaluable resource to young cardiologists in clinical research as well as to those in related fields such as obesity and liver disease.
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75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
T
he Moncrief Radiation and Research Foundation, chaired by W. A.“Tex“ Moncrief, Jr.,
had awarded the Moncrief Radiation Center in Fort Worth to the UT System in 1995. But in 1999, Moncrief made the decision to transfer ownership so that it could be staffed and managed by UT Southwestern. Moncrief was a Fort Worth oilman and patriarch of one of Texas’ first families of philanthropy, having learned the importance of giving from his parents, W.A. “Monty” and Elizabeth Moncrief. The Moncrief Radiation Center, which had been renamed Moncrief Cancer Resources, was one of the first community radiation facilities in the country. Deborah and W. A.“Tex” Moncrief, Jr.
The physical plant and equipment were valued at $30 million, and the Moncrief Foundation’s endowment had, by 1999, grown to $60 million. Together, the $90 million donation represented the largest single philanthropic gift ever received by a university or medical center in Texas at that time. “Tex and Deborah Moncrief rank among the most generous philanthropists in America,” Wildenthal said. “Beyond that, they are — purely and simply — just wonderful, good people.” Southwestern Medical Foundation and the medical center were blessed to count among their friends many wonderful, good people — compassionate and generous men and women, families and foundations committed to making a difference in the lives of others. And, remarkably, seen as one philanthropic community, they were just getting started.
As the millennium approached, the changes that had occurred across the health care landscape in Dallas were nothing short of remarkable. A mere 60 years after Southwestern Medical Foundation was founded and 56 years since Southwestern Medical College opened, the medical school had some 1,900 research projects underway, totaling more than $166 million. During the 1998 –1999 academic school year, UT Southwestern was educating 794 medical
19 4 3 Southwestern Medical College on Oak Lawn
students, 435 graduate students, 365 PhD graduate students, 70 master’s graduate students, 319 health professions students, 250 bachelor’s degree students, 40 post-baccalaureate undergraduate students and 29 professional master’s students. In 1999, UT Southwestern’s faculty and residents provided care to almost 75,000 hospitalized patients, delivered over 13,500 babies and had more than 1.5 million outpatient visits coming from Dallas, North Texas and other parts of the world. All of this could be traced back to an unshakable
19 9 9 The North Campus
66
and clear vision of quality by the Foundation’s founder, Dr. Edward H. Cary.
75 YEARS OF VISION: THE LASTING GIFT
199 9 [ CONT. ]
UT Southwestern faculty elected to the National Academy of Sciences in the 1990s
19 9 1
19 9 2
A. James Hudspeth, MD, PhD
19 9 3
Steven L. McKnight, PhD
19 9 4
David L. Garbers, PhD
19 9 7
Ellen S. Vitetta, PhD
Johann Deisenhofer, PhD
Future issues of Perspectives magazine will
follow the history of the Foundation from 2000 on. The North Campus continues its expansion; more Nobel Laureates
are named; and the medical center, supported in part by gifts made through the Foundation, completes the
state-of-the-art William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital.
1999 vs. 2015 Total Students
Full-Time Faculty
Annual Budget
Total Sq. Ft.
Nobel Laureates
NAS* Members
4,700
2,400
$2.3 B
7.7 M
6
23
2,300
1,100
$500 M
3.6 M
4
13
1999 numbers are shown relative to 2015. * National Academy of Sciences
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A GRAND CELEBRATION OF A GRAND VISION
68
SEVENTY-FIVE
years ago, Southwestern Medical Foundation
was formed by leaders who knew that a great city would require great philanthropy. In recognition of this diamond anniversary, the Foundation held a celebration at
the Winspear Opera House to honor the many visionaries whose generous contributions over the years have led to extraordinary advancements in medical research, medical education and health care.
We hope you enjoy a pictorial review of what was a wonderful evening of celebration.
PHOTOGR APHY BY STEVE FOX ALL AND DAVID GRESHAM
'' DALLAS
in the early days was basically a medical wilderness,
not having libraries or laboratories or pathologists in the city when my grandfather came to Dallas to start his practice in 1902 – there was none of that here.�
Edward H. Cary, III
HONORARY
Co-Chairs of the Foundation’s 75th Anniversary
Steering Committee were Mayor Mike Rawlings and Mr. and Mrs. Peter O’Donnell, Jr. William T. Solomon served as Chairman.
COMMITTEE
members included Edward H.
Cary, III – the grandson of Foundation founder Dr. Edward H. Cary – Ruth Collins Altshuler, Jan Hart Black, Mary McDermott Cook, David R. Corrigan, Harlan R. Crow, Thomas M. Dunning, Robert A. Estrada, Nancy Strauss Halbreich, Paul W. Harris, Lyda Hill, James R. Huffines, Mrs. Eugene McDermott, Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, Caren H. Prothro, Carolyn Perot Rathjen, Catherine M. Rose, Lizzie Horchow Routman, Robert B. Rowling and Emmitt J. Smith, III.
71
“It was the Foundation that stepped up and said we’ve got to be a provider, a catalyst.” Mayor Mike Rawlings
“We’ve got just the brightest people – this is a real shining star.” Caren Prothro
“Six Nobel Laureates – my gosh a’mighty – nobody has all that!” Lyda Hill
“Southwestern Medical Foundation is in large part responsible for the enormous success of Dallas as a medical center.” Ruth Altshuler
“You can’t be a world-class city such as Dallas is today without a teaching hospital and a medical center of the quality that we have.” Harlan Crow
“Research drives the evolution and development of health care and medicine.” Bill Solomon
“There were a few key people like Don Seldin who said this institution is going to stand for excellence. It will grow for sure – it will do all the things that it has to do, but as it does, it will stand for quality. That was part of the founding and the culture of the institution, and it persisted through the decades.” Kern Wildenthal, MD, PhD
“As we know, medical scientific research begins with the individuals who are trained and dedicated to doing that research and have the resources available to them to carry out that research. That’s what’s been so vital about Southwestern Medical Foundation.” Bob Estrada
“Without the generosity of the people of this community, UT Southwestern would not be one of the top-rated medical schools in America.” Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
“Curiosity. What would the medical school be without curious people?” Margaret McDermott
“I feel very strongly that people in academic clinical departments should, among other things, have a research program of presumably high dignity.” Donald Seldin, MD
“Sometimes I’m in the position of just dreaming about doing excellent research. Because of Southwestern Medical Foundation, it’s been possible to actually achieve what I want to.” Bruce Beutler, MD, Nobel Laureate
“We’re gonna build a medical school – we’re gonna build a great medical school.” Tom Dunning
“You have to give them the opportunity to make their discoveries. You have to make it possible so that they know that they won’t be limited – that they’re limited only by their imagination and skill.” Michael Brown, MD, Nobel Laureate
'' THE MEDICAL CENTER was not a creation of the city, but of the citizens of Dallas seeing a need for their community.� Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky President UT Southwestern
74
'' WE ARE lastingly grateful to the
founders, donors and all the other past and present visionaries who have made such an impact on our community.�
Kathleen Gibson
During the gala, the Foundation announced a $7.5 million gift to UT Southwestern to provide support and inspire additional gifts to accelerate scientific discovery and strengthen its standing as a leader in neuroscience.
GALA GALLERY
To view more photos, go to swmedical.org > Events.
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SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL FOUNDATION MILESTONE
33 Years of Wisdom B
ill Solomon began his service on the Board of Trustees of Southwestern Medical Foundation in 1981. He became Chairman of the Board in 2008 and led the Foundation during six years of transition and growth. When the Heritage Society was formed in Bill Solomon 1995, Solomon and his wife, Gay, became Charter Members. During 2000, when the quiet phase of the largest campaign in the medical school’s history was announced, Solomon organized and led a committee of 100 civic and business leaders and stepped up as Chair of the Innovations in Medicine campaign – an eight-year campaign that began with a goal of $500 million and ultimately raised $772 million. The Solomons committed a lead gift of $1 million to the campaign. Then in 2003, they added $10 million to endow enhanced patient services and to create the William T. and Gay F. Solomon Division of General Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern. The intent of the gift was to help perfect a seamless system of clinical care, combining patient services with the latest technology and physician expertise. The ultimate goal was lofty: to create a model for improved doctorpatient relations in Dallas and other environments around the country. During 2004, the Solomons received the Foundation’s highest volunteer 80
WILLIAM T. SOLOMON SERVED NOBLY AS FOUNDATION CHAIR
“It has been remarkable for me to contemplate the enormous impact that Bill and Gay Solomon have made on the Foundation and UT Southwestern.”
Robert B. Rowling
Chairman of the Foundation
“He has served not just as the right leader at the right time but as the counselor to many at the Foundation and medical center on every important matter they have faced since he became Chair in 2008.”
Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky
President, UT Southwestern
service honor: the Charles Cameron Sprague Community Service Award. During 2011, the Building the Future of Medicine campaign was announced and, again, Solomon stepped up to lead the effort to raise $200 million in community support for the $800 million William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital. That same year, the Solomons gave $1 million in support of the new, state-of-the-art hospital. The Solomons have made an extraordinary impact on the Foundation
and UT Southwestern, serving with tremendous distinction for more than 30 years. With the exception of the founders, no one has since made a greater contribution in leadership, governance, and rallying of community support for Southwestern Medical Foundation than Bill Solomon. We are tremendously grateful and will be forever appreciative of his years of leadership and his depth of wisdom and generosity.
In honor of Bill Solomon’s lasting contributions over 33 years, Southwestern Medical Foundation created an endowed Professorship: the William T. Solomon Professorship for Quality in Clinical Care. It is meant to recognize and sustain in perpetuity the leadership Solomon has brought to patient-centered, humanistic and quality care at UT Southwestern – Kathleen Gibson, Bill Solomon and Bob Rowling with the framed tribute of the William T. Solomon Professorship for Quality in Clinical Care.
and to further embed quality practices in health care in Dallas and throughout the world.
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A Legacy of Giving “We only hope that through the years many of our citizens will remember the Foundation in order that human suffering can be alleviated.” – Karl Hoblitzelle, Founder BY RANDAL DAUGHERTY
Throughout Southwestern Medical Foundation’s history, its impact has been enhanced by generous lifetime and estate gifts. To all who have made these gifts, we owe a debt of gratitude for their concern for quality health care and a vision that medical research could help improve the lives of everyone in our community and throughout the world.
Mary Lucile Shannon Fifty years after her husband, Dr. Hall Shannon, became one of the key architects of the founding of Southwestern Medical Foundation in 1939, and 21 years after his death in 1968, Mary Lucile Shannon bequeathed to Southwestern Medical Foundation almost $4 million to create the Hall and Mary Lucile Shannon Distinguished Chair in Surgery at UT Southwestern. Since its establishment, this Chair traditionally has been held by the Chairman of the Department of Surgery, raising the Department’s prominence and attracting renowned physicians to the medical center. The first person to hold the Shannon Chair was one of the leading surgery chiefs and trauma experts in the country, Dr. C. James Carrico. The Shannon Chair was instrumental in his decision to return to his alma mater in 1990, where he had received the highest honor a senior medical student can receive, the Ho Din Award. Today, this prestigious Chair resides with the internationally acclaimed surgical oncologist Dr. Michael Choti, the current Chairman of the Department of Surgery and the Surgeon-in-Chief for William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital. Mary Lucile, or “Cile” as she was known, was involved in civic work that complemented the work of her husband, a well-known Dallas surgeon and a member of the surgical staff at Baylor University Medical Center from 1919 until his retirement in 1959. Mrs. Shannon served as president of the Dallas County Medical Society Auxiliary and as an organizer of the Visiting Nurse Association. Upon his appointment to the Shannon Chair, Dr. Carrico said, “An Endowed Chair is a graphic and solid demonstration of UT Southwestern’s dedication to the surgery program.” It is also a lasting legacy of the generosity of Mrs. Shannon and a wonderful memorial to the many contributions she and Dr. Shannon made in building health care in this community.
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Virginia Murchison Linthicum In 1996, a $5 million bequest from Virginia Murchison Linthicum became one of the first gifts to UT Southwestern’s Endowed Scholars Program in Medical Science, which supports tenure-track assistant professors to pursue research in both basic and clinical science. Almost 20 years later, the program has launched the careers of 76 investigators, among them 12 who carried the title of Virginia Murchison Linthicum Scholar in Medical Research. Mrs. Linthicum, in her lifetime and through her estate, built a tremendous legacy of generosity at UT Southwestern. Nearly a decade before her death, she created the Virginia and Edward Linthicum Distinguished Chair in Biomolecular Science. As a young woman, she married Clint Murchison, Sr., an avid sportsman. They traveled to ranches they owned and welcomed such guests as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and President and Mrs. Lyndon Johnson. After Mr. Murchison’s death, she married Edward Linthicum, an importer and breeder of Arabian horses, a cattle rancher and an oil investor. In the early 1980s Mr. Linthicum was treated for leukemia at UT Southwestern. The Linthicums were so impressed by the outstanding quality of care he received that they decided to offer ongoing financial support, most notably through this wonderful bequest through Southwestern Medical Foundation.
Bequests in the 1980s and 1990s to Southwestern Medical Foundation 198 0
Nina Beeks Super $10,000 to establish the Dr. Archie R. Super Scholarship Fund.
1985
Ella C. McFadden $4 million from a charitable trust Mrs. McFadden established in her will to terminate in 20 years. Following her death in 1965, an endowment was established to support the Bio-Behavioral Brain Science program in the Department of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern.
198 6
Mary Olive Titterington McClendon $1.045 million from a testamentary trust provided in her will. The trust provides that the distribution be designated a “Gift from Mary Olive Titterington McClendon and Robert Williamson McClendon to be used for scientific and medical research for illnesses of the mind and body.” Pinta Huff Harris $1.5 million representing one-half of her residuary estate to be used in the State of Texas for medical and scientific research in the prevention, treatment and cure of cancer or mental illness.
1987
Ida Green $465,000 representing 3 percent of her residuary estate. Funds were used to establish the Ida Green Fund. Ralph E. Brown and Berniece R. Brown Approximately $1.5 million from the
Browns’ combined estates to be used for scientific research in the causes, prevention, treatment and/or cure of heart ailments, cancer and/or mental illnesses and in the medical applications for and against these diseases. Ruby D. Hexter Charitable Trust $1 million. Trust principal was transferred to Southwestern Medical Foundation as an endowment to benefit projects of interest to Dr. Seldin. Mrs. Hexter was a patient of Dr. Seldin’s. Helen L. Wineburgh $10,000 for fulfillment of the mission of Southwestern Medical Foundation.
198 8
19 92
Wilma Sprague Stewart $800,000. She was the sister of Dr. Charles Sprague. Dr. William E. Crow $630,000 from the termination of the trust Dr. Crow created in his will to provide for his wife, Fannie Davis Crow, and longtime nurse, Frieda Smasal. His wife died in 1970 and left a bequest of $431,000. The funds support important research projects. Pauline Wallace $85,000 to create the Pauline Wallace Memorial Endowment Fund, used to support Alzheimer’s disease research at UT Southwestern.
19 93
George A. Wilson $300,000 for fulfillment of the mission of Southwestern Medical Foundation.
Dr. Everett C. Fox $400,000 bequest to be used for lectureships, teaching and research in the Department of Dermatology at UT Southwestern.
Lorraine Sanders $20,000 to benefit Children’s Medical Center.
19 94
1989
May E. Sanders $50,000 to the Harold B. and May E. Sanders Scholarship Fund.
Mary Lucile Shannon $3.7 million to create the Hall and Mary Lucile Shannon Distinguished Chair in Surgery.
Ralph E. Hays Family Trust $60,000 for fulfillment of the mission of Southwestern Medical Foundation.
19 9 0
William C. Chilton $10,000 for fulfillment of the mission of Southwestern Medical Foundation.
Josephine Simonson $73,500 to expand assistance to victims of aphasia – the loss or impairment of the ability to communicate, usually resulting from an injury or stroke. Ms. Simonson was a nationally recognized teacher and clinician in the field of pathology and a member of the Department of Neurology at UT Southwestern. Dr. Frank H. Kidd, Jr. $10,000 for emergency student loans.
19 96
Louise Kahn $1 million directed to support the Endowed Scholars Program.
19 98
Virginia Murchison Linthicum $5 million earmarked for the Endowed Scholars Program.
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ORIGINAL LECTURE SERIES
What’s Next?
TWO INSPIRED CONVERSATIONS: ONE LOOKING FORWARD, ONE LOOKING BACK
O
n April 7, 2014, in the Pecan Room at Old Parkland, Southwestern Medical Foundation held its second “Leading the Conversation on Health” program. These conversations are designed to bring together a diverse community of thought leaders focused on the future of health and provide a means to better understand the PHOTOS BY STEVE FOXALL
SECOND ROW – Lee Cullum, Dr. Joe Goldstein, Dr. Bruce Beutler, Lyda Hill, Jack Roach, Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, Harlan Crow, Dr. Joe Goldstein, Gay Solomon, Peter O’Donnell, Elvis Mason, Lyda Hill, Terry and Bob Rowling
84
extraordinary strides being made in academic medicine, education and clinical care in the Dallas area. The event was hosted by Bill Solomon, Kathleen Gibson, and Harlan Crow, whose Crow Holdings restored the Parkland Hospital and Nurses Quarters. Old Parkland was the original teaching hospital for Southwestern Medical College, which was started by the Foundation on the Old Parkland Campus. We were fortunate to have a conversation with Nobel Laureates Bruce Beutler, MD, and Joseph Goldstein, MD. Dr. Goldstein is Chair of Molecular Genetics at UT Southwestern, and Dr. Beutler is Director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense. Introductions were made by Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, and the event was moderated by Lee Cullum. Our speakers riveted the crowd with stories of breakthroughs in science, inspiring outstanding questions from the audience.
Edith O’Donnell, Quin Mathews
O
n November 24, 2014, filmmaker, journalist and broadcaster Quin Mathews screened a series of film clips titled “How Dallas Brought a Great Dream to Reality,” marking the third “Leading the Conversation on Health” event. “One of the most remarkable stories in Dallas history is the unique way in which the Foundation came together to create one of the leading medical research centers in the world,” said Mathews. “As the Foundation celebrates its 75th anniversary, we are indebted to the donors and founders whose vision and generosity have indeed advanced the goal of building one of the finest medical centers anywhere,” said Foundation President Kathleen Gibson. Guests in attendance included Foundation founder grandson Edward H. Cary, III, Honorary 75th Steering Committee Chairs Edith and Peter O’Donnell, 75th Steering Committee Chairman Bill Solomon, Foundation Chairman Bob Rowling, and Foundation Board members Sara Albert, Jill Bee, Gil Besing, Dan Branch, Harlan Crow, Bob Dedman, Tom Dunning, Bob Estrada, Jeff Heller, James Huffines, Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, Linda Robuck, George Seay, Trinka Taylor, Dr. Kern Wildenthal, Dr. Kneeland Youngblood and Don Zale.
SECOND ROW – Harlan Crow; Don Zale, Kathleen Gibson THIRD ROW – Bill Solomon, Kathleen Gibson, Peter O’Donnell; Tom Dunning FOURTH ROW – Peter and Bonnie Smith, Phillip Wiggins; Dr. Carol Podolsky, Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, Trinka Taylor
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SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL FOUNDATION
Annual Meeting A
t its annual meeting, Southwestern Medical Foundation announced that Robert B. Rowling has been appointed Chairman of the Foundation. In his new role, Rowling will work closely with Foundation President and CEO Kathleen Gibson. Rowling previously served on the Foundation’s Executive Committee and as Vice Chairman of the Board. He replaces William T. Solomon, who is stepping down after serving as Chairman since 2008. The announcement comes as Southwestern Medical Foundation marks its 75th anniversary of advancing the cause of academic medicine, innovative research and leading-edge medical education. “As we celebrate our remarkable history in this milestone year, we are extremely fortunate to have Bob Rowling providing new leadership on the Board and helping expand the Foundation’s position in the business, philanthropic, and medical communities,” Solomon said. “In addition to his broad business, management and financial experience, he brings a strong understanding of the community and the donors who are served by the Foundation.” Rowling is owner and chairman of TRT Holdings, Inc., a company with global interests in energy, hotels, financial services, fitness and consumer retailing. He previously served as Vice Chairman of the UT System Board of Regents and as Chairman of the UT Investment Management Company. In 2003, Rowling was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame, and in 2005, he was inducted into both the UT Austin McCombs School of Business Hall of Fame and the All-American Wildcatters for his achievements in the oil and gas industry. In November 2013, he was honored by his alma mater with the university’s highest distinction as he joined the ranks of UT’s Distinguished Alumni. Rowling and his wife, Terry, have given generously to numerous organizations in Dallas and around the world. In November, the Rowlings were recipients of the 2013 Charles Cameron Sprague Community Service Award, the Foundation’s highest community distinction, honoring those who provide significant support to the improvement 86
ROBERT B. ROWLING APPOINTED CHAIRMAN AND 2014-2015 TRUSTEES NAMED
of medical education, medical research and patient care. Their most recent gift to UT Southwestern totaled $5 million to assist in support of the new William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital. “It is a pleasure and an honor to help Southwestern Medical Foundation continue to play a pivotal role in supporting world-class patient care, scientific innovation and education for the next generation of health care professionals,” Rowling said. “Thanks to the foresight of so many visionary men and women, the Foundation has built a meaningful 75-year legacy in our community. I look forward to working with our dedicated trustees and generous donors to build on that legacy. “I would also like to thank and acknowledge the tremendous leadership of Bill Solomon, who continRobert B. Rowling, new ues to serve on the FoundaChairman of the Foundation tion Board, and who chairs the 75th Anniversary Steering Committee. We owe Bill a great debt of gratitude for the work and preeminence the Foundation has achieved under his insightful leadership.” Rowling’s appointment comes during a period of extraordinary growth for UT Southwestern. In the last few decades, the medical center has made a rapid rise to prominence and emerged among the top tier of research and clinical institutions in the world. “We are thrilled to announce Bob Rowling as Chairman during this exciting period for Southwestern Medical Foundation,” Gibson said. “He is an extraordinary businessman with profound insight into our community. He will play a major role as the Foundation continues its support for one of the world’s preeminent medical centers. Thanks to Bob’s expert guidance, the Board and the Foundation will continue to positively impact the future of health and the achievement of important medical breakthroughs.”
“Thanks to Bob’s expert guidance, the Board and the Foundation will continue to positively impact the future of health and the achievement of important medical breakthroughs.”
Kathleen M. Gibson
Dr. Andrew Avery, winner of the 2014 Ho Din Award, and Edward Cary, III, the grandson of Dr. Edward H. Cary, who established the award in 1943.
Andrew Avery, MD, is just the second graduate in the history of UT Southwestern Medical School to win both the Ho Din Award and the Iatros Award. The Ho Din Award was instituted by Southwestern Medical Foundation in honor of Dr. E. H. Cary to recognize those who exemplify the unique personal qualities embodied in all great physicians – knowledge, understanding, and, most of all, compassion. Ho Din, which represents “the spirit of medical wisdom and human understanding,” has been a hallmark of excellence at UT Southwestern for more than 70 years and is the foremost honor bestowed on outstanding seniors. The Iatros Award, first presented in 1984, is sponsored by the UT Southwestern Medical School Alumni Association and is determined by a vote of the graduating medical class.
FIRST ROW Rolf Haberecht, Bill Solomon, Leonard Riggs SECOND ROW Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Mike Myers, Linda Hart, Mitch Hart Bill Solomon, Catherine Rose Jennifer Eagle, Carolyn Rathjen THIRD ROW Jere Thompson, Jr., David Haley, Peter Beck Edward H. Cary, III, Kathleen Gibson, Ed Daniels John McStay, Ruben Esquivel, Carlos Peña
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SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL FOUNDATION
New Trustees FOR 2015 -2016
FOR 2014 -2015
Listed below are the 14
Jennifer Eagle
Together with her husband
In 2006, he co-founded and
new Trustees of Southwestern
John, Jennifer was honored with
became Managing Partner of
Medical Foundation elected
the S.M. Wright Foundation
Scientific Health Development,
for the 2015-2016 year.
Appreciation Award in 2009 and
an investment fund focused on
Their photos and bios will
the Episcopal School of Dallas
early stage medical device and
appear in the next issue.
Philanthropy Award in 2006.
pharmaceutical companies. He is also co-owner of EBG, LLC, the
Stuart Fitts
Charles Anderson
operates Eatzi’s Market & Bakery
Leland R. Burk
A Dallas native, Jennifer Eagle
Richard W. Fisher
is an active volunteer dedicated
Dr. Marshal D. Goldberg J. Hale Hoak Dr. Richard E. Hoffman Gary C. Kelly
in Dallas. Stuart is the author of a chil-
to the local community. She
dren’s book on safety: A Stranger
attended Woodrow Wilson High
in the Park. The book is used by
School and earned her BBA from
educators, police and security
Baylor University. Currently, she
officials as an education tool to instruct parents and children about
is a Board Member of TACA, where she has served on the
Stuart Fitts is the Managing Part-
the threat of “stranger danger”
Samuel D. Loughlin
Finance Committee, Profile and
ner of Fitts Investment Company,
in a nonthreatening but effective
Bobby B. Lyle
Brand Management Commit-
a Dallas-based privately held
manner.
tee, Grants Committee and as
investment firm with investments
Board Chairman. Jennifer is also
in a diverse field of interests
received his BA in English from
a Board Member of the Dallas
including golf course develop-
Southern Methodist University in
Zoological Society and serves on
ment, oil and gas, commercial
1987 and his MBA from SMU's
its Executive Committee, Nomi-
real estate, pharmaceuticals and
Cox School of Business in 1991.
nating Committee, and as Capital
medical technology.
Governor George W. Bush
S. Todd Maclin Dr. Lee Ann Pearse Steven S. Schiff Lisa Troutt Kelcy L. Warren
Stuart is a native Dallasite. He
Stuart is also the Managing
appointed Stuart to the Texas
in addition to serving as Devel-
Partner of West Dallas Invest-
Diabetes Council in 1995. He
opment Committee Co-Chair for
ments and Trinity Groves, a real
served two terms on the Council
the past five years. Previously, she
estate partnership focused on
and was responsible for creating
served on the Board of the Dallas
the assemblage and development
the Mobile Diabetes Care Unit
Children’s Advocacy Center and
of property in the West Dallas
program. He has served on the
the President’s Advisory Council
area of the Trinity River corridor.
Board of Presbyterian Healthcare
for the AT&T Performing Arts
Trinity Groves is a restaurant
Resources and Hunger Busters, a
Center and Co-Chaired 2x2 for
incubator that has created dozens
nonprofit organization dedicated
Aids and Art.
of new restaurant concepts.
to feeding the homeless. He also
Campaign Committee Co-Chair
Stuart previously owned EGF
served on the Board of the
Broadcast Corporation and Gulf
Ronald McDonald House of
California Broadcast Company,
Dallas.
which owned and operated radio and television properties in Palm Springs, California. 88
holding company that owns and
Kathryn W. Hall
Hunger Advisory Committee, and
Dr. Chris Miller and his brother,
and the Dallas County Dental
U. S. Ambassador ( ret.)
was the Director and VP of the
Dr. Matt Miller, have spent more
Society. Chris is also an alumnus
Texas Mental Health Associa-
than two decades together in
of the prestigious L.D. Pankey
tion. Kathryn has served on the
dentistry and co-founded Miller
Institute.
National Advisory Council for
& Miller, DDS, which has served
Violence Against Women and as
patients in the Plano area since
a trustee of the Woodrow Wilson
1986.
International Center for Scholars. She served as the U.S. Am-
Ray Nixon, Jr.
Chris volunteers with Christina’s Smile, a nonprofit organiza-
bassador to Austria from 1997 to
tion that provides free dental care
Kathryn Hall is the proprietor of
July 2001. During her term, she
to children in need. He also pro-
HALL Wines and WALT Wines
worked hard to promote Ameri-
vides services for an organization
and has been involved in the
can wine in Austria and Europe.
known as the Lost Boys of Sudan.
California wine industry since her
Since her return to America, she
In 2001, the International Rescue
family first purchased a vineyard
has resumed her role as proprietor
Committee rescued 3,800 “Lost
Ray Nixon is the Executive
30 years ago. She has had a dis-
of Kathryn Hall Vineyards. Based
Boys” from Sudan and placed
Director and Portfolio Manager
tinguished career as a successful
upon her experience promoting
them in approximately 100 cities
of Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney
businesswoman, as a community
American agriculture in Austria,
around the United States. Before
& Strauss, LLC. Barrow Hanley,
activist, and most recently as the
in September 2001 she was
being brought to America, these
founded in 1979, is one of the
U.S. Ambassador to Austria.
appointed to the United States
young men were forced to flee
largest value-oriented investment
Department of Agriculture’s
from their native Sudan at a very
managers of institutional assets
career as assistant city attorney
Agricultural Technical Advisory
young age and walk hundreds of
in the U.S. The $96 billion dollar
in Berkeley, California. Later, she
Committee (ATAC) for interna-
miles in an attempt to survive the
firm provides value-oriented
joined Safeway Stores, where she
tional trade.
civil war in Sudan. Many of these
investment strategies to institu-
young men had five or six of their
tional investors, mutual funds, and
Kathryn began her public
was responsible for developing
Kathryn earned a BA in
and administering one of the na-
Economics from the University
bottom front teeth extracted in
family offices on five continents.
tion’s first and largest affirmative
of California, Berkeley, and a JD
tribal ceremonies, and they are
Ray joined Barrow Hanley in
action programs. Subsequently
from the University of California
now struggling to eat American
1994 from Smith Barney, Inc.,
she worked as an attorney and
Hastings College of Law.
food and speak English properly.
where he was a member of the
she was President of an inner city
Dr. Chris Miller
of the University of Kansas with
mittee and served as the lead
development company and part-
President, Dallas County Dental Society
a BA degree in Human Biology.
institutional stockbroker for the
He attended Baylor College of
Southwest. During his 37-year
businesswoman in Dallas, where
ner of Hall Financial Group, Inc. Long committed to social
Chris is a 1980 graduate
firm’s Investment Policy Com-
Dentistry in Dallas and received
investment career, he also served
issues, Kathryn has served on
a Doctor of Dental Surgery
as a research analyst for the Teach-
numerous nonprofit and institu-
(DDS) degree in 1984. He is
er Retirement System of Texas.
tional Boards, addressing issues
an active member of, and has
Ray holds a BA and an MBA from
related to social care and mental
held leadership positions in, the
The University of Texas.
health. She co-founded the North
American Dental Association,
(cont. on next page)
Texas Food Bank, served on the
the Texas Dental Association, the
U.S. House of Representatives
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SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL FOUNDATION
New Trustees FOR 2014 - 2015 (cont.) Ray is Chairman of
of 2007, he used his public policy
Prior to his work with Hunt,
Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneur-
the Texas Health Resources
and business management skills
James served as press secretary to
ship and Innovation. Bob was in-
Investment Committee and a
to lead his country team in a
then Congressman George H. W.
ducted into the Horatio Alger As-
member of the McCombs School
repositioning of the U.S./Saudi
Bush and as special assistant to
sociation in 2008. Some of Bob’s
of Business Advisory Council, The
relationship.
the Administrator of the U.S. En-
favorite volunteer positions have
vironmental Protection Agency.
included serving on the Executive
James was educated at The
Board of the SMU Cox School of
University of Texas Development
Prior to his Ambassadorial
Board, and the Board of the
service, James was Senior Vice
Salvation Army.
President of Hunt Consolidated,
University of Texas at Austin,
Business and on the Boards of the
Inc. of Dallas, where he advised
graduating with a Bachelor of
Students in Free Enterprise, the
James C. Oberwetter
the Chairman, Ray L. Hunt, and
Journalism degree from the
Salvation Army and the Young
U. S. Ambassador (ret.)
the Hunt family of companies,
School of Communications.
Presidents’ Organization.
Bob Schlegel
owned and operated the Texas
including Hunt Oil Company, on governmental and public affairs
With his son, Kirby, Bob
strategies domestically and inter-
Tornado Junior-A Hockey Team
nationally.
of the NAHL; the Iowa Stars, a
His past civic service includes:
Dallas Stars; and the Tacoma
Drug and Alcohol Abuse; Chair-
Rainiers Baseball Club, the
man, City of Dallas Civil Service
Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle
James Oberwetter is a Dallas
Commission; Chairman, biparti-
Mariners.
executive with extensive senior
san City of Dallas Redistricting
leadership experience in the non-
Committee; Executive Commit-
Bob Schlegel grew up near Toron-
profit, government and business
tee, Dallas Metropolitan YMCA;
to, Canada, where he graduated
sectors.
Chairman, Volunteer Center;
with a BA in Economics and a
Vice Chairman, Dallas Fort
CPA license from Wilfrid Laurier
President and CEO of the Dallas
Worth World Affairs Council;
University. In 1979 he started two
Regional Chamber of Commerce,
founding member, Dallas Friday
companies in Dallas and in 1985
where he served since 2009.
Group and the Dallas Breakfast
moved his family here. He and his
During his tenure, the Chamber’s
Group; member, Board of Dallas
wife, Myrna, built and operated
economic and strategic devel-
Workforce Commission; member,
a group of luxury nursing and
opment fund tripled in size, and
Board of the Greenhill School;
retirement centers with 2,500
Debbie Scripps has been a dedi-
significant corporate recruitment
honorary Lifetime Achievement
beds in 15 locations. He also
cated community volunteer since
to the region was the result.
Award from the Texas Parent
built Pavestone Company into a
she and her husband, Ric, moved
In November 2003 he was
Teacher Association for leading
national manufacturer of concrete
back to Dallas from Minnesota in
nominated by President George
groups in peaceful desegregation
landscape products with 20 manu-
1980. Debbie attended Thomas
W. Bush to serve as U.S. Ambassa-
of the Dallas school system. He
facturing locations.
Jefferson High School in Dallas
dor to the Kingdom of Saudi Ara-
was nominated for the U.S. De-
Bob and Myrna have been
bia. Following his confirmation,
partment of State’s Cobb Award
recognized by WLU with Honor-
Moines, Iowa. After graduating
from February 2004 until April
for outstanding Ambassador of
ary Doctorate degrees and a new
with her Bachelor of Science in
the year.
facility named in their honor, The
Education, she worked as a grade
In April of 2014 he retired as
90
former AHL farm team for the
Chairman, Texas Commission on
Deborah Engstrom Scripps
and Drake University in Des
school teacher for several years. Upon returning to Dallas, she
importance to the organizations’
planned opening. These
Dr. Jim Walton is President
founder, Miss Lyda Hill. In these
achievements earned the Perot
and CEO of Genesis Physicians
immediately became a hands-on
roles since early 2014, Nicole is
Museum widespread acclaim,
Group, the largest independent
community volunteer. Currently,
responsible for overseeing the
both for its innovative design and
physicians association in North
she serves on the Executive
strategic direction of both enti-
programming excellence.
Texas. A former practicing
Committee of Children’s Medical
ties, including their
Center Foundation, as a member
financial and investment activi-
with several technology, venture
President of Network Perfor-
of Crystal Charity Ball, and as
ties, as well as their philanthropic
capital and consulting firms,
mance/Baylor Quality Alliance at
an Advisory Board Member for
initiatives.
including serving as the founder
Baylor Health Care System before
and CEO of an Internet start-up,
joining Genesis in March.
Earlier, Nicole held positions
internist, Jim served as Vice
Texas Community Partners. In
From 2011 through 2013,
addition, Debbie has served in
Nicole served as the inaugural
as an entrepreneur in residence
many leadership roles, including
Eugene McDermott CEO of
at a California-based business
Jim has been focused on quality
as President of the Junior League
Dallas’ Perot Museum of Nature
incubator, and as an analyst with
improvement strategies to elimi-
of Dallas, as Chair of Children’s
and Science. Nicole joined
McKinsey & Company.
nate health disparities. He brings
Medical Foundation Board of
the Dallas Museum of Natural
Trustees, and as a member of
History in 2001, having first served
uate degree from the University of
improvement and an understand-
the Bryan’s House Board of
as a member of the Museum’s
Pennsylvania and an MBA from
ing of the challenges facing
Directors. Her previous Board
expansion team until she was
the Kellogg School of Manage-
today’s independent
positions include the Volunteer
named CEO in April 2002.
ment at Northwestern University.
physicians. He has served as Dallas
Center of Greater Dallas and the
Nicole received an undergrad-
Throughout his career,
together his knowledge of quality
She is currently a member of the
County Medical Society’s Medical
Mental Health Association of
the merger of the city’s three
Dallas Assembly, YPO, Charter
Director for Project Access
Greater Dallas.
then-existing nature, science, and
100, and International Women’s
Dallas, a network of more than
children’s museums (the Dallas
Forum. She serves on the Boards
2,000 physicians and 15 hospitals
Museum of Natural History, The
of the A.H. Belo Corporation and
providing comprehensive
Science Place and the Children’s
Communities Foundation of Tex-
health care access to uninsured
Museum) into a single museum
as and on the Strategic Planning
patients in Dallas County.
that later became the Perot
Committee for The Hockaday
Museum of Nature and Science
School.
Nicole G. Small
In 2006, Nicole spearheaded
Jim received an MBA from the University of Michigan, a Doctorate of Osteopathic Medi-
in Victory Park. Nicole worked with the Board, the community
Jim Walton, MD
cine from the University of North
and the Museum team to raise
President, Dallas County Medical Society
Texas Health Science Center,
more than $200 million, which
and a bachelor’s degree from
Nicole Small serves as CEO of
provided for the site acquisition,
the University of North Texas.
LH Holdings, Inc. and as Presi-
exhibition planning and design,
He is board certified in Internal
dent of the Lyda Hill Foundation,
construction of the new
Medicine.
related entities that use their
building, education programs and
resources to fund game-changing
an endowment – more than a full
advances in science and nature,
year before the Museum’s
empower nonprofits, and improve the local communities of greatest
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TOP – Nia Jones SECOND ROW – Rachel Hein, Wes Norred, Tyler McDonald; Julie Huang, Camille Herbert, Patricia Beall, Nia Jones THIRD ROW – Jan Hart Black, Florence Shapiro; Nicholas Norris
SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL FOUNDATION BRINGS
TOGETHER FUTURE DOCTORS AND THEIR BENEFACTORS
AT ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP LUNCHEON
S
outhwestern Medical Foundation
brought together future doctors and the donors whose gifts are supporting their medical education at the recent Scholarship Luncheon held at UT Southwestern’s T. Boone Pickens Biomedical Building. The Foundation holds the annual luncheon to thank philanthropists and introduce them to the deserving medical students who benefit directly from their generosity. This year, the Foundation gave $223,500 in scholarship awards to 177 medical students. “We thank the donors for their vision in providing scholarships that will establish the next generation of leaders in academic medicine and health care. As the Foundation celebrates its 75th anniversary, we are thrilled to mark this milestone by introducing our generous donors to the future doctors they are helping through medical school,” said Foundation President
Guests at the luncheon included not
impact over the last 75 years by helping
Kathleen M. Gibson.
only donors, students and Foundation
thousands of bright young students
Board members, but also administrators,
complete their medical education,” Rowling
Foundation has been an important phil-
physicians and professors from the medical
said. “Over 50 percent of all practicing
anthropic partner supporting deserving
school. Also in attendance were members
physicians in North Texas receive some or
students at UT Southwestern, managing
of the Foundation’s Heritage Society, which
all of their training at UT Southwestern.
$12 million in both merit and need-based
is a society that honors those who have
By helping students, you’re helping the
scholarship endowment funds.
generously included the Foundation or
entire community by investing in the
UT Southwestern in their estate planning.
development of the clinical care that is the
depend on the Foundation’s support for
Robert B. Rowling, Chairman of the Board
future for all of us.”
an exemplary medical education. These
of Southwestern Medical Foundation,
critical funds provide the means to
thanked donors for continuing the
thanked the philanthropists who have
attract the best and brightest students
Foundation’s 75-year legacy of ensuring
given so generously to support their medical
year in and year out,” said Wes Norred,
the community support needed for quality
educations.
UT Southwestern Vice President for
medical education in Dallas.
For 75 years, Southwestern Medical
“Many students at UT Southwestern
Student and Alumni Affairs. 92
“Our donors have made a tremendous
During the luncheon, several students
“As I was thinking about what to say today to let you know how much I
TOP – Dr. Greg Fitz, Tyler McDonald SECOND ROW – Bob Rowling, Kathleen Gibson, Jack Roach; Dr. David Pillow, Sukriti Bansal, Sunny Pillow THIRD ROW – Kathleen Gibson, Nicholas Norris, Ed Cary,III, Claudia Goodsett, Jan Hart Black; Dr. Gary Reed, Marge Davis, Robert Click
This year, Southwestern Medical Foundation has made helping deserving students by lessening the financial burden of receiving an exemplary medical education at UT Southwestern one of its top priorities. With your support, we can help ensure that the next generation of leaders in patient care, biomedical science and disease prevention are well prepared to care for the citizens of Dallas and North Texas. In fact, over 50% of all practicing physicians in the greater Dallas area received some or all of their medical education at UT Southwestern. Almost half of undergraduates depend on scholarship assistance from the Foundation to help them supplement their medical education. Your gift will go to support a combination of financial aid and academic innovation. To make a scholarship donation to Southwestern Medical Foundation in support of these outstanding students, please contact us at 214-351-6143 or visit us at swmedical.org.
and Donald F. Goldman Scholarship Fund; Felix B. and Josephine I. Goldman Trust Fund; Jake L. and Nancy B. Hamon Scholarship Fund; Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison Scholarship Award for Women in Science and Medicine; Dr. J. A. Majors Scholarship Fund; Mr. and Mrs. M. A. McBee Scholarship Fund; Dr. M. Hill and Dorothy Metz Scholarship Fund; Morning Star Family Foundation Scholarship Fund; Lupe Murchison Foundation Scholarship Endowment Fund; Tom F. Parker, III, M.D. Scholarship Fund; Pillow Family Medical Student Scholarship Fund; Shirley appreciate your support, it occurred to me
kind people I have ever come across,” said
P. Pollock Scholarship Fund; Kathryn
that this isn’t just about me. Your generosity
first-year student Cami Hebert. “I have
and Ashley H. Priddy Fund; Ralph B.
is giving back to our community in the
learned more than I ever thought I could
Rogers Scholarship Fund; Harold B. and
form of better medical care. I am honored
fit in my head, and the mentors who
May E. Sanders Scholarship Fund; Anne
to be the vehicle for that,” said Sachin
surround me – upperclassmen, faculty, and
C. Schoellkopf Scholarship Fund; Jay
Shah, class president for second-year
physicians – continually inspire me and
Simmons Scholarship Fund; Dr. Walter N.
medical school students.
encourage me to be my best.”
Skinner Scholarship Fund; Dr. Richard M.
“As you may be aware, the second year
Scholarships to UT Southwestern
Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund; Alayne
of medical school with its increased work-
students have been provided over the
and Charles C. Sprague, MD, Scholarship
load is difficult to manage sometimes, and
years by many generous donors, families
Fund; S. Edward Sulkin, MD, Scholarship
the emotional impact of your assistance
and friends, from such funds as the: Dr.
Fund; Judith R. Tycher Scholarship
and the sense that there is a community
E. H. Cary Scholarship Fund; Martha and
Fund; Vanatta Scholarship for Afro-
behind me here at school means a great
Robert Click Scholarship Fund; Frances
American Medical Students; Helen and
deal to me,” said David Willcutts.
B. Conroy Scholarship Fund; Dorothy
Juan R. Vilaro-Grau Scholarship Fund;
R. Cullum Scholarship Fund; Fred F.
and Dr. Bryan Williams Medical Student
Florence Scholarship Fund; Collene C.
Scholarship Fund.
“My classmates are some of the most incredible, intelligent, talented, selfless, and
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SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL
FOUNDATION CELEBRATES
75 YEARS SUPPORTING LEADING MEDICAL RESEARCH, MEDICAL
EDUCATION AND PATIENT CARE
O
in medicine and will ensure our bright future,” said Robert B. Rowling, Chairman of Southwestern Medical Foundation. “The emergence of UT Southwestern as one of the nation’s leading biomedical centers today is a testament to the vision of the founders and the leaders who came
SELECTED AS THE IDA M. GREEN DISTINGUISHED VISITING PROFESSOR FOR 2015
E
stablished by Southwestern Medical
n January 14, 2015, Southwestern
after them and their commitment to help-
Foundation, the Ida M. Green Distin-
Medical Foundation celebrated its legacy
ing the community understand the need,”
guished Visiting Professorship is named
of advancing medical research, education
said William T. Solomon, Chairman of the
for the late wife of Texas Instruments
and patient care in the community during
75th Anniversary Steering Committee.
founder Cecil H. Green. Mrs. Green, who
The Foundation’s success coincides
died in 1986, provided a major bequest to
with a period of unprecedented advance-
Southwestern Medical Foundation, which
ments, including the recent opening of
has provided significant and inspired
the William P. Clements Jr. University
support recognizing women in science and
Hospital.
medicine for almost 30 years.
a 75th anniversary celebration.
Equally important is the transformation
Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky is presented with a $7.5 million gift to support leadership in neuroscience at UT Southwestern by Kathleen Gibson, Bill Solomon and Bob Rowling ( not pictured ).
Dr. Huda Y. Zoghbi, is a Professor in
of Zale Lipshy University Hospital into a
the Departments of Pediatrics, Molecular
dedicated neuroscience hospital, with the
and Human Genetics, Neuroscience, and
intention of “prioritizing neurosciences
Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine
from the most basic aspects of research
in Houston. Dr. Zoghbi initially planned
right down to innovations and delivery
to become a clinical pediatric neurologist,
of care today,” as noted by Dr. Daniel K.
but an encounter during her residency
Podolsky, President of UT Southwestern.
inspired her to change course. She realized
“This wonderful gift that Southwestern
that to pursue effective treatments she
Medical Foundation is making on the
needed to specifically understand what
occasion of its 75th Anniversary symbol-
caused the kinds of devastating neurologi-
izes the continued advancement of leader-
cal conditions she had encountered.
The Foundation announced a $7.5
ship in science, education and treatment
million gift to UT Southwestern Medical
that Southwestern Medical Foundation
own lab at Baylor, and later she and her
Center to provide support and inspire
has always represented.”
colleagues identified mutations in the gene
additional gifts to accelerate scientific
“As we celebrate the 75th anniversary
discovery and strengthen its standing as a
of Southwestern Medical Foundation, we
leader in neuroscience.
reflect on the profound ways in which our
“I can think of no more outstanding
Dr. Zoghbi went on to establish her
MECP2, which causes the neurodevelopmental disorder Rett syndrome.
community has supported building one of
example of the spirit of wisdom and hu-
the leading medical centers in the world.
man understanding than the work of the
We are lastingly grateful to the founders,
medical community in Dallas,” said Dallas
donors and all the other past and present
Mayor Mike Rawlings, one of several
visionaries who have made such an impact
Honorary Chairs of the 75th Anniversary
on our community,” said Kathleen Gibson,
Steering Committee.
President of Southwestern Medical
“We celebrate the impact made by
94
HUDA Y. ZOGHBI, MD, PHD,
Foundation. “Our most recent gift to UT
our founders and the vast contributions
Southwestern is just one small part of a 75-
made by our generous community, both of
year legacy that has been the lasting gift of
which have led to extraordinary progress
Southwestern Medical Foundation.”
Huda Y. Zoghbi, MD, PhD
SPECIAL THANKS
“Recognizing the significant achievements of Dr. Zoghbi is exactly why this distinguished visiting professorship exists.” – Carole Mendelson, PhD
As history amply attests, accomplishments are rarely achieved alone, and the production of this special issue of Perspectives is no exception. There have been many authors and stewards of history that have come before us. Some have passed away, and others are still with us; but their work was equally helpful to us in telling this story. We extend to them our sincerest gratitude and hope that we have been good custodians of this history as we share it with those who will pick up the torch for the advancement of medicine going forward. REFERENCES
Friedberg, MD, Errol C. From Rags to Riches: The Phenomenal Rise of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Durham: Carolina Academic Press, 2007. Hazel, Michael V. “Medical Milestones: A Timeline.” Legacies. Spring 1993: 4-11. Newsline: The Newsletter of Southwestern Medical Foundation. (Fall 1987 – Winter 1999). Race, MD, PhD, George J. UT Southwestern: Commemorating the First Half Century. Dallas: UT Southwestern Medical Center, 1997.
Standing (left to right ) : Jane Johnson, PhD, Huda Zoghbi, MD, PhD, Diane Jeffries, Jo Ann Carson, PhD, Devon Crawford, PhD, Alecia Nero, MD, Mary Ashley Liu, Laurie Seidel. Sitting (left to right ) : Christina Ahn, Courtney Lane, Lauren Tyra, Angela Shoup, PhD, Marissa Pullum, Carole Mendelson, PhD, Naomi Winick, MD, Jenny Hsieh, PhD.
Rett, which mainly affects girls, is charac-
This annual event is important in working
terized by normal early growth and devel-
to inspire women in the biomedical science
opment followed by a slowing of develop-
and medicine fields. Nothing speaks
ment, loss of purposeful use of the hands,
louder than to see the successes of other
distinctive hand movements, slowed brain
women and to have role models and spon-
and head growth, problems with walking,
sors emerge for others.”
seizures, and intellectual disability. Before Dr. Zoghbi’s discovery, it had
In a recent article she co-authored with Dr. Paul Greengard, Nobel Laureate in
Southwestern Medical Foundation News. (Spring 1955 – Spring 1987). Southwestern Medical Perspectives: A Publication of Southwestern Medical Foundation. (Spring 1999 – Spring 2014). UT Southwestern, CenterTimes, “History Special Edition, Celebrating the First Fifty Years: 19431993.” SPECIAL THANKS
Edward H. Cary, III Dallas County Medical Society and the Dallas Medical Journal archives Harlan Crow and Cathy Golden, Old Parkland The Dallas Morning News photo archives Parkland Foundation, Beth Ellis Dexter
not been proven that Rett was genetic.
Physiology or Medicine (2000), for The
Since then, other mutations in MECP2
Scientist, Dr. Zoghbi wrote, “We owe it to
Dallas Public Library, Texas/Dallas History & Archives Division
have been linked to learning disabilities
ourselves and to the future of U.S. science
Texas Medical Association library and archives
and autism spectrum disorders.
to portray the richness that a life in re-
UT Southwestern Dean’s Office: Dr. J. Gregory Fitz and Diana DiLolle
“Recognizing the significant achieve-
search can hold for both men and women.
ments of Dr. Zoghbi is exactly why this
We have all seen highly gifted people with
distinguished visiting professorship ex-
a love of math or science pursue other
ists,” said Dr. Carole Mendelson, Professor
lucrative careers, simply because they don’t
of Biochemistry and of Obstetrics and
realize the excitement that can be found at
Gynecology, Director of the North Texas
the lab bench or in the field.
UT Southwestern Facilities and Planning: Kirby Vahle and James Drake UT Southwestern Medical School library and archives, Cameron Kainerstorfer UT Southwestern Office of Business Affairs: Mike Serber and Abraham Mathew UT Southwestern Student Affairs: Wes Norred and Chuck Kettlewell
March of Dimes Birth Defects Center and
“The beauty of science is that when
current Co-Chair of the Women in Science
you go to work every day, you have no idea
Photo (Ziff) page 17: Terry Cockerham
and Medicine Advisory Committee
what might happen. You may work hard
(WISMAC) at UT Southwestern.
for months or years with little progress
Photo page 30: Tobbe Gustavsson/Reportagebild/TT/Sipa USA
toward answers until the day when
Photos pages 35 and 51: NASA photo library
Southwestern Medical Foundation, “It is
everything changes. The rush of reward
an honor for the Foundation to support
and satisfaction is beyond compare. For
Human Genome Project logo, page 44, courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Human Genome Project
WISMAC’s efforts for so many years and
anyone, man or woman, what could be
Photo (Perot) page 50: Allan Warren
to see its impact on faculty and students.
more exciting than that?”
Photo page 65: Brian Coates
Adds Kathleen Gibson, President of
S O U T H W E S T E R N M E D I C A L P E R S P E C T I V E S . F A L L 2 015
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A Moment inTime
[ May 30, 2014 ]
A
moment in time that connected our remarkable past with its shining future. In 1943, at the first meeting of the Board of Trustees of Southwestern Medical College, the Board voted to establish an annual award to recognize the individual who best exemplified the qualities found in the ideal physician. It was named the Ho Din Award after a Greek acronym, which stands for “the spirit of medical wisdom.” Edward H. Cary, MD, one of the original founders of Southwestern Medical Foundation, envisioned the award and was also a recipient of the award. For more than 70 years, the Ho Din Award has been the foremost honor bestowed on the medical school’s most outstanding senior or, in rare instances, a faculty member. On May 30, 2014, the award ceremony found an extra measure of meaning when Edward Cary, III, the grandson of Dr. Cary, presented the Ho Din Award on behalf of the Foundation to a well-deserving Andrew Avery, MD, in recognition of his outstanding medical knowledge, understanding and compassion. 96
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