Mary DeLay, chief of staff and communications (left), and Debbie Morrill, vice president for development and chief development officer, hold the certificates from the two Chancellor’s Excellence Awards.
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The Offices of Development and External Affairs at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio received two Chancellor’s Excellence Awards, presented Nov. 11 at The University of Texas System’s statewide seminar in Austin.

Excellence in Fundraising award
The Office of Development earned the top fundraising award among UT System health components - the Excellence in Fundraising award - for efforts to help President Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., bring more than $55.2 million to the Health Science Center during fiscal year 2007. This is a 125 percent increase in gifts compared to the previous fiscal year.

Excellence in Events award
The Office of External Affairs received the Excellence in Events award for a special program thanking philanthropists Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long for their $25 million gift. The gift established the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Scholarship, Research and Teaching Fund endowment. The Health Science Center’s central campus was named in their honor.

“I was honored to be able to accept these awards on behalf of the Health Science Center,” said Debbie Morrill, vice president for development and chief development officer. “Our offices often work together closely to support the goals of the Health Science Center. It is a true partnership.”

Mary DeLay, chief of staff and communications, added, “We appreciate all the hard work from both teams. Jacquelyn Pfeiffer, our coordinator of special events, especially took great efforts to ensure that the event was unique and memorable. But, she would be the first to admit it was a team effort. Members of the Office of External Affairs and Development all contributed to make our fundraising and recognition event for Mr. and Mrs. Long successful.”

Banner year for fundraising
The Office of Development brought in a number of major gifts during the 2007 academic year. They include:

• A $25 million gift from the Greehey Family Foundation. The funds, announced on Jan. 18, 2007, were earmarked for cancer research laboratories; recruitment and retention of world-class clinicians and scientists involved in translational research; scholarships for future clinicians and scientists focused on children’s health; and $4 million for community outreach programs that support pediatric patients and their families. The Children’s Cancer Research Institute was named the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute in honor of the Greehey family’s generosity.
  
• $5 million in gifts from the Valero Energy Corp., announced Aug. 29, 2007. The gift established a distinguished chair for a faculty-appointed transplant surgeon and the creation of excellence funds supporting innovative transplantation biology research, an oral health program to help the disadvantaged, an M.D./Ph.D. dual-degree program, and medical humanities and ethics education.
  
• 13.37 acres of land donated by the San Antonio Medical Foundation (SAMF) for the Medical Arts and Research Center (MARC). The property was purchased decades ago and held by the SAMF for use in developing the South Texas Medical Center. The MARC, being built at 8300 Floyd Curl Drive across from the Greehey Academic and Research Campus, will be the Health Science Center’s multispecialty faculty practice group, combining eight research and clinic locations into a single medical practice. The MARC is expected to open in fall 2009 .
  
• $4 million from the Brown Foundation to help construct the state-of-the-art South Texas Research Facility, being built at 8403 Floyd Curl Drive, where clinical and translational research to discover treatments for age-related diseases will be conducted. Research carried out at this new facility will complement the internationally recognized work of investigators in basic biomedical research at the Health Science Center’s world-renowned Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, where discoveries with animal models will be translated into therapies and treatments for the aging population.

Event celebrated $25 million gift by Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long
The Office of External Affairs was recognized for an event May 8, 2008, thanking Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long for their gift of $25 million, which together with other previous gifts brings their cumulative giving to nearly $26 million. The $25 million donation, contributed during the 2008 academic year, matches the largest gift ever to the Health Science Center and is one of the largest cash gifts to a UT System institution.

During the event, two Long Scholarship recipients thanked Mr. and Mrs. Long for their generosity. They discussed their backgrounds and how they — and the patients they will treat in the future — will benefit from receiving financial assistance for their medical educations. The university presented the Longs with an original watercolor painting of the Health Science Center campus, commissioned especially for them by San Antonio artist Brother Cletus Behlmann, S.M. The event concluded when the Longs, accompanied by Dr. Cigarroa, faculty members and students, unveiled a festively wrapped monument naming the central campus the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Campus.