San Antonio (Feb. 15, 2005) – Amazing energy has been a defining characteristic in the long career of Leonard E. Lawrence, M.D., associate dean for student affairs in the School of Medicine and Dental School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. That’s why it was not surprising recently when City Public Service (CPS) selected Dr. Lawrence as one of the honorees in its 2005 Amazing Energy campaign.
Dr. Lawrence has served the Health Science Center for 33 years, including nine as director of a children’s psychiatry program and 24 advocating for minority students in two professional schools. Many of the students credit Dr. Lawrence with providing encouragement they needed to succeed in the rigorous academic environment of the Health Science Center.
He is an active community leader who has rolled up his sleeves during terms as chairman of the board of United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County, public television station KLRN and the Carver Cultural Center.
Gov. Ann Richards selected Dr. Lawrence to serve on the Texas Youth Commission in 1992, and Govs. George W. Bush and Rick Perry not only reappointed him but asked him to chair the panel. It was voted one of the most efficient mid-size state institutions during his tenure.
The Amazing Energy campaign included a videotaped interview with Dr. Lawrence that was aired during the 2005 Martin Luther King Jr. March. “CPS wanted to know what effect MLK had on my life,” Dr. Lawrence said. “He was a contemporary of mine. I was driving to my first military assignment when I heard his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech on the radio. I could relate to what he was saying, because during my training in Montgomery, Alabama, I had been refused service in an airport cafeteria. Another time, the car in which I was riding was kicked and spit upon by the Highway Patrol. I was certainly emotional as I heard that speech.”
Among Dr. Lawrence’s many achievements and honors, he is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.