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The new monument naming the UT Health Science Center's central campus as the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Campus is unveiled.
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SAN ANTONIO (May 8, 2008) — The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, close on the heels of the annual Fiesta in San Antonio, held its own Fiesta-style ceremony May 8 to recognize the generosity of Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long and name the university’s original San Antonio campus for them.

The Longs, an Austin couple who have supported the arts, education and causes throughout Texas, donated $25 million to the UT Health Science Center San Antonio at the close of 2007. This matched the single largest cash gift in Health Science Center history and is one of the single largest cash gifts in the history of The University of Texas System.

What the gift will accomplish
The generous gift created the Joe R. and Teresa L. Long Scholarship, Research and Teaching Fund, which established:

• $12.5 million in permanent endowments for student scholarships
  
• $6.25 million for medical research to alleviate suffering
  
• $6.25 million in educational enrichment fueled by recruitment and retention of the world’s top health science academicians

Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., UT Health Science Center president, said the scholarships will help students in medicine, nursing, graduate and physician assistant studies. Among other things, the gift also will establish two new $1 million distinguished chairs for faculty.

“Because of you, Texans will be healthier,” Dr. Cigarroa said to the Longs. “Additional young people with the dream and determination to pursue health careers will have the resources to do so. Investigators seeking cures for diabetes and other diseases common in South Texas will have a better chance of finding those cures. And additional preeminent faculty will be recruited to teach and perform research. You have indeed made a grand gift for Texas.”

Two of the 33 Long Scholars, Jessica Flores and Joel Torres, gave brief speeches thanking the Longs for their generosity.

Previous $1 million gift funded medical scholarships
The Longs previously gave $1 million to establish the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Presidential Scholars Program. During today’s ceremony, 10 Long Presidential Scholars walked down the aisle in starched white coats symbolizing their entry into the health professions.

Scholarship helped medical student Joel Torres overcome great odds
Joel Torres represents the goal of the Long Presidential Scholars Program to a tee. Torres was 7 when his father died after an illness and his mother become a migrant farmworker. The family worked in Idaho and Michigan, where in the fields Torres missed his father and began to think about a medical career saving lives.

His education-conscious mother made sure the family returned to Alamo in the Rio Grande Valley in time for each school year. Torres became valedictorian of his high school class and was recruited to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford. Today, he is a third-year student in the Health Science Center School of Medicine.
“Saying ‘thank you’ isn’t enough to show appreciation to people as generous as the Longs,” Torres said. “They have given me a wonderful gift, not only financially but also the gift of their trust, which one day I will honor by becoming the best physician that I can be.”

Special guests at the ceremony
An estimated 400 guests attended the celebration. The platform party included:

• John T. Montford, senior vice president, external affairs, Western Region, with AT&T and chair of the Health Science Center’s Development Board
  
• Sen. Judith Zaffirini, whose work in Austin has been instrumental in expanding the Health Science Center to new campuses and programs
  
• James R. Huffines, vice chairman of the UT System Board of Regents
  
• Student Regent Randal Matthew Camarillo

Regent Huffines particularly noted the Longs’ generosity to UT Austin. Joe R. Long is a UT Law School graduate and Teresa Lozano Long holds a doctorate in education from UT Austin.

As the ceremony drew to a close, Dr. Cigarroa, the Longs, the Long Presidential Scholars and other platform party members pulled colorful ribbons to unveil a monument bearing the name of the Joe R. Long and Teresa Lozano Long Campus. To further set a festive mood, the street rhythm dance group Samba Vida led the gathering inside to a Fiesta-style reception.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $576 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $15.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $35 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 23,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and allied health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, allied health, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, visit www.uthscsa.edu.