$25 million gift to help fund new Fort Worth medical school students, faculty, forever
The stated goals of a $25 million gift being made to Fort Worth’s new medical school are lofty.
“This generous gift is a catalyst that will enable the School of Medicine to be a leader in medical education, delivery of care and scholarship and necessary skills for complex health care issues, including the challenges of providing care during the COVID-19 pandemic,” a Texas Christian University news release said.
The gift comes from the late Anne Marion and the Burnett Foundation, a charitable foundation based in Fort Worth, and will establish an endowment in perpetuity in Marion’s name.
The endowment will provide funds to support students, faculty and programming for the TCU and University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Medicine.
“I am inspired by the vision of the School of Medicine to transform medical education,” Marion said before her death in February. “This school is bringing considerable advances and innovations that are reshaping curriculum and preparing its graduates to better serve the community. I am pleased to make this gift.”
The TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine opened with a class of 60 students in July 2019. The students focus on taking care of patients during the four-year education process and do not attend lectures, the release said.
“At a time when innovation in medical education is not only needed, but also demanded, this gift will ensure that the M.D. School continues to grow its innovative curriculum,” UNTHSC President Michael R. Williams said. “This gift recognizes the vision we had to create a new and different school. I am appreciative of this generous support and thank both Anne Marion and the Burnett Foundation.”
This latest gift is one on a long line of philanthropy that has made this medical school possible, the release said. The school’s donors include Alcon, Amon G. Carter Foundation, Baylor Scott & White, the Burnett Foundation, Cook Children’s Medical Center, Texas Health Resources, Mr. H. Paul Dorman, Dr. John and Mrs. Priscilla Geesbreght, an anonymous donor, Sid W. Richardson Foundation, Rebecca and Jon Brumley, The Morris Foundation, Martha Sue Parr Trust, Tartaglino Richards Family Foundation, Harriette and Arnold Gachman, and the Thomas M., Helen McKee and John P. Ryan Foundation.
“This new medical school is training future physicians who will not only care for patients, but will provide care, empathetic communication with patients, and the critical thinking skills to lead in an industry that is always evolving and innovating,” TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. said. “This gift will contribute greatly to current and future faculty and students.“
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 4:20 PM.
