Changing the World - Mar/Apr 2017

CHANGING THE WORLD What your investment in UT makes possible

BRAIN WAVES $50 million gift promises to help UT become a global leader in neuroscience research and care.

By Angela Curtis

J

im and

M iriam Mulva know firsthand how disorders of the br ain

and nervous system can touch families. Jim’s mother suffered from dementia, and Miriam’s mother and grandfather had strokes. But it wasn’t until talking with Clay Johnston, dean of UT-Austin’s Dell

Medical School, that they realized just how universal experiences such as theirs are.

Above and opposite: From

probing the inner workings of the brain to developing robotic technologies that will assist therapists in delivering physical rehabilitation, UT is building pathways to new advances in neuroscience.

CREDITS: iStockPhoto; John Everett for MD Anderson Cancer Center; Cockrell School

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“Clay made it clear that the brain is the future of medicine and that Austin deserves a world destination for patient care and research in the neurosciences,” Miriam says.

Those conversations with Johnston were the genesis of the James J. and Miriam B. Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences at Dell Med. In December 2016, the couple announced a $50 million, multiyear commitment to create and fund the clinic, which aspires to become a global leader in understanding neurological and psychiatric diseases and conditions.

The Mulva Clinic will underwrite neuroscience patient care, research, and clinical operations, with a special emphasis initially on Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and bipolar disorder. The clinic will provide specialized neurological services for patients with conditions such as dementia, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative diseases, brain injuries, and mental health disorders.

“We haven’t done a very good job at this, as a society,” says Jim, BBA ’68, MBA ’69, Life Member. A 2005 recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award, he is a former chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips. “Miriam and I want to try to make a difference.”

The couple announced the gift in conjunction with a $25 million gift to another UT System institution, Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center, to study prostate cancer and melanoma.

Their son Jonathan was successfully treated for melanoma at MD Anderson.

“So many of these things touch all our families,” Miriam says. “Everybody knows someone, probably in their immediate family, who has had cancer or Alzheimer’s.”

By giving to medical causes at two different UT institutions, the Mulvas hope to encourage people to look at the UT System in a new light.

The system, they say, epitomizes more than just stellar academics; it also represents innovations in patient care.

The Mulvas’ latest donation will take their cumulative UT-Austin support past $125 million. They previously pledged $20 million to help construct the Engineering Education and Research Center and $40 million to r enov at e t wo u nder g r adu at e bu si ne s s buildings. That’s on top of a $15 million gift to UT’s ROTC programs and the College of Liberal Arts.

W hat inspires such tra nsformationa l donations to the university?

“This is Jim’s school,” Miriam says. “This is what gave him his start. This is why we have what we have—because he got the education here. They taught him how to think, how to write, how to speak.”

Faith also plays a role in the couple’s philanthropy, which stretches from their birthplaces in Wisconsin to their adopted

second home in Austin to a Vatican seminary.

One day, Miriam and Jim believe, they’ll be asked to account for how they handled their good fortune.

“Someday someone’s going to say, ‘I gave you all this stuff. What did you do with it? Did you try to help someone? Did you try to do something, or did you hoard it?’ ” Jim says.

“We’re here to help each other,” Miriam says.

“Otherwise, why are we here? You have to align your giving with your passions. I think that’s really important.”

Those passions include education, the Catholic Church, youth, community, and the elderly. In addition to UT-Austin, the Mulvas have given to Miriam’s alma mater, St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican.

In talking with Johnston, Jim asked the dean to pick two or three areas where he thought the school could make a lasting difference.

Along with Dell Med’s signature initiatives of population health and redesigning health care with a focus on value, the neurosciences quickly came to the forefront.

Stigma surrounding some neurological conditions, especially mental illness, can make it harder to raise money for the neurosciences than for cancer or heart disease. But with enough resources, Jim says, the university is in a unique position to bring researchers and clinicians together to study the brain. No other place is better suited, he believes, to put the disciplines of medicine and engineering, as well as psychology, social work, nursing, pharmacy, and the arts and humanities, under one umbrella and start from scratch.

“We wanted to really push the frontier,” Jim says. “And with a new center, one that doesn’t yet exist— it’s a clean sheet of paper.”

T h e Mu l v a C l i n ic f or t h e Neurosciences, set to open before the end of 2017, will grow alongside the medical school, opening a new range of services and treatments a nd r ei n forci ng t he sc ho ol ’s transformational role as it strives to become a global destination for neuroscience-related treatment.

At the same time, both the school and clinic w ill support better health in Central Texas by treating low-income and uninsured patients in the area.

“I have spent many years caring for people with neurological and psychiatric diseases and have seen the impact they have on individuals and their families,” Johnston says. “The Mulva Clinic will make a real difference addressing these devastating health issues that have afflicted far too many people. The gift allows us to launch on a trajectory to become a worldclass center for the treatment and study of these diseases, pulling together great strengths that already exist across the university and in the community. We’re looking forward to some amazing collaborations.”

For their part, the Mulvas can’t wait to see the impact of their gift.

“If we can help in some small way to alleviate suffering and save lives,” says Miriam, “that’s just an amazing thing.”

Jim and Miriam Mulva

LEADING A REVOLUTION Neuroscience revolves around the study of the most complex and least understood living structure on earth: the human brain. Because of its complexity, the brain is vulnerable to a staggering assortment of maladies affecting more than 90 million Americans every year at a cost of more than $650 billion.

That is why UT-Austin President Greg Fenves, Dell Med Dean Clay Johnston, and colleges and schools across campus are committed to “Leading the Brain Health Revolution,” which UT System Chancellor Bill McRaven, BJ ’77, Life Member, Distinguished Alumnus, has established as one of his “Quantum Leaps.” The goal: to better understand, prevent, treat, and cure diseases and disorders of the brain. UT-Austin already is home to more than 70 top scientists who represent virtually every major field in neuroscience. As part of a world-class research university, Dell Med offers unique opportunities to unite diverse researchers and clinicians in their efforts. The Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences will make the most of this cross-campus collaboration, building pathways to new advances faster than ever before.

What’s next? The university is positioned to become one of the world’s neuroscience epicenters. With further philanthropic investments targeting professorships and chairs, fellowships, innovation seed grants, and clinical startup funds across disciplines, the Forty Acres can be at the forefront of improving and saving lives affected by nervous system disorders.

For more information about supporting neuroscience at UT, please contact Amanda Brown Irving at amanda.irving@austin.utexas.edu or 512-475-9510, or Mark Kimbell at Mark.Kimbell@austin.utexas.edu or 512-495-5110. s e p t e m b e r | o c t o b e r 2011

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CHANGING THE WORLD What your investment in UT makes possible

ON HER WAY Humble beginnings did not stop Jessica Hernandez from graduating with highest honors—and nothing’s going to stop her now.

G

rowing up in

Monahans, Texas, under the primary care of her

grandmother, Jessica Hernandez, BS ’16, lived a sheltered life.

College wasn’t on her radar. That changed when, at age 11, she and her mother, who faces mental challenges, found themselves

living in nearby Midland with a cousin. Hernandez’s introduction to UT was seeing Longhorn football on TV. As her exposure to the university grew, so did her admiration.

Above: Jessica Hernandez

celebrates her May 2016 graduation from the Moody College of Communication.

Opposite: Sherri and Bobby Patton are supporting a challenge campaign to match major gifts to the College of Liberal Arts.

CREDITS: Family photo; Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

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It was her grandmother’s 2005 death that led Hernandez and her mother to relocate, but out of that tragedy, her life began to bloom in ways she could not have foreseen.

“Due to that move, I became more aware of all the resources available to me,” Hernandez says.

“I began to understand the importance and the impact that education has on someone’s success.”

With her cousin’s encouragement and guidance through the critical years of high school, Hernandez became involved in a college-readiness program for disadvantaged students. After visiting and ultimately being accepted at several universities, the lure of UT’s

excellent communication sciences and disorders program—her area of academic interest—and the encouragement of an alumnus relative sealed the deal.

But as many before her have learned, enrolling was one thing; having the means to attend was another. Enter the Texas Exes.

“Jessica is amazing,” says Jackie Rendall, BS ’74, Life Member. As president of the Exes’ Midland Chapter, Rendall gave Hernandez the news that she would receive a chapter scholarship for all four of her years at UT— provided she kept up her end of the bargain and continued to do well academically.

“I have had the privilege of watching her grow from a rather timid, shy girl,” Rendall says, “to an accomplished, confident young woman who graduated from the Moody College of Communication with highest honors.”

As she immersed herself in campus activities and organizations such as the Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma honor societies, Hernandez also participated in student success initiatives to help her thrive. Those included the Longhorn Link Program, which provides opportunities for academic development, and Horns Helping Horns, which focuses on social and financial support for students who arrive at the university with few or no family resources.

“The Texas Exes Midland Chapter introduced me to Horns Helping Horns to help ease my adjustment at UT,” Hernandez says. “I was—and still am—extremely touched by the chapter’s compassion and support.”

Being a speech-language pathologist is her goal, and it requires a master’s degree. Once again, she was accepted at several top schools and chose UT. Well acquainted with the university’s speech-language pathology graduate program and knowing firsthand that Moody’s professors are among the best in their field, Hernandez says the decision was ultimately an easy one.

“I feel very proud to have earned my bachelor’s at UT-Austin.

This graduate program is ranked in the top 10 nationwide, and this university has become a second home to me. I just couldn’t imagine myself graduating from another program that wasn’t UT-Austin.”

As a grad student, her days are longer, Hernandez says, but more rewarding. After she earns her master’s degree she intends to work in a public school system.

“Throughout my undergraduate experience, I received so much support and care from so many individuals. I want to give children—rich or poor—what they need to succeed in their education and in their life,” she says. “My mother was not provided with the appropriate resources growing up, which did not allow her to reach her full potential. I don’t want any other child to suffer the same consequences.”

Hernandez’s scholarship was named for Don Evans, BS ’69, MBA ’73, Life Member, who served as President George W. Bush’s secretary of commerce. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in recognition of his success in the energy business and his public service, which also includes a stint on the UT System Board of Regents.

Just as the Evans Scholarship has been crucial to Hernandez, Evans the businessman has been a key mentor, employing her as an intern at his Midland office during summer and winter breaks and encouraging her to explore growth opportunities such as study abroad, which she did ahead of her senior year.

“Jessica is a beautiful example of the vision and dream for America that our Founding Fathers had over 225 years ago,” Evans says. “If you live in this great nation, and you work, and you are honest, and you have a heart for serving others, we will give you the freedom and create the opportunity for you to accomplish your dreams.”

While the scholarship helped Hernandez excel at UT, Rendall says, equally important has been her inherent desire to succeed and to help others.

“She has totally changed the trajectory of her family, and I am confident she will change many lives through her work as a speech therapist.”

MATCHES LIGHT A FIRE IN LIBERAL ARTS

W

hen Bobby Patton, Jr., BBA ’85, Life Member, and his wife, Sherri, announced in September 2016 that they were giving $20 million to the College of Liberal Arts to support excellence, they saw it as an investment in the college’s future—and an opportunity to challenge others to invest in that future.

Alumni have eagerly responded to the Sherri and Bobby Patton Jr. Challenge Campaign and have done so in ways that significantly bolster the Pattons’ intent to help the college recruit top faculty and students.

Life Members Robert and Maureen Decherd’s gift will total $1 million with the Patton match, adding to the Maureen Healy Decherd ’73 Teaching Endowment for English. The endowment supports graduate students with summer stipends, funds conferences and research, and provides other assistance.

“Robert and I believe it is extremely important to create the most productive situation possible for graduate students, who are the future of scholarship and teaching,” says Maureen, BA ’73. “This is especially important in literature and writing as the world becomes increasingly focused on science and technology. Balance between the humanities and other fields is crucial.”

Stuart W. Stedman, BA ’79, MBA ’85, JD ’85, and Betty Ann Stedman, BA ’80, Life Members, joined with the Stedman West Foundation to establish the Stuart W. Stedman Director’s Chair in Plan II with a gift that was matched to total $1.5 million in support of Plan II study abroad, underTen new faculty graduate research, and internships.

“Plan II took a chance on me when endowments they let me in as a sophomore transfer and counting. student in 1976,” Stuart says. “The professors and the curriculum transformed my inquisitive but undisciplined mind into one that could tackle hard material, analyze complex problems, and write persuasively about my conclusions. My mother—also a Plan II graduate—and I are pleased to be able to support the program.”

Carolyn, BA ’66, and Peyton Townsend, BA ’62, Life Members, answered the challenge with a pledge that was matched to a total endowment of $200,000 to establish the Carolyn and Peyton Townsend Excellence Fund for the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Study of Core Texts & Ideas. The center aims to help students understand the meaning of liberty through intense, interactive study of great books.

The college will match gifts from $100,000 to $1 million per donor, depending on the availability of funds. Please contact Assistant Dean Kathleen Aronson at 512-475-9763 or mcaronson@austin.utexas.edu for more information.

Changing the World is produced by the University Development Office. Please send your feedback and suggestions to Alisa Cohen Victoria at alisa.cohen@austin.utexas.edu. For more news and information about giving to UT, visit giving.utexas.edu.

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