The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center has received a donation of $100 million from the O'Donnell Foundation. Money will go to UTSW's new school of public health, which will be named the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health.
"This is a remarkable gift," said Dr. Greg Fitz, Director of Global Affairs for UTSW.
The creation of the new school was approved by the UT System Board of Regents in 2021 and state lawmakers approved some initial funding. It's the first new school established at UT Southwestern in more than 50 years.
Officials with UTSW say the new institution will be well-positioned to address public health problems in north Texas.
"We have a long history of interest in basic science and medical science, and the School of Public Health is really designed to help us put that science into people and to study larger populations of people," said Dr. Fitz. "Zika, the West Nile Virus and now COVID-19 make it clear that there's much to be learned about how best to take care of large populations."
The school will draw its first faculty members from the Department of Population and Data Sciences of the Medical School at UTSW as well as several other departments.
The O'Donnell Foundation was started by philanthropist Peter O'Donnell, Jr. and his wife Edith. Peter O'Donnell died in October of 2021.
"Peter and Edith O’Donnell understood the vital role of academic medicine in addressing the health challenges facing society," said Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D., President of UT Southwestern. "No one has been more generous in their support of UT Southwestern than the O’Donnells and their Foundation, funding many of the Medical Center’s most innovative and impactful initiatives over more than four decades."
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