SAN ANTONIO (Sept. 16, 2011) — The UT Health Science Center San Antonio is establishing The Charles Butt and H-E-B Excellence Fund for the Future of Health. William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, president of the Health Science Center, will officially announce the new fund Saturday night (Sept. 17) at the 2011 President’s Gala.
More than 1,300 community and academic leaders are expected at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio for the gala, which annually raises funds to enhance the work of the Health Science Center’s schools, programs and missions. The Charles Butt and H-E-B Excellence Fund will support all aspects of the university’s programs, from education of clinicians and scientists to the translation of scientific discoveries for the health and wellness of the community.
The gala theme is “Igniting Science, Advancing Health.” President Henrich said, “We are making discoveries in Texas, and at the Health Science Center, that will resonate into improved care for the world. This evening is about celebrating education and scientific discovery.”
H-E-B’s longstanding support of biomedical education and research at the Health Science Center is reflected in the H-E-B Clinical Skills Center, which enables 1,000 future physicians, nurses and physician assistants a year to learn patient-communication and physical-examination skills in simulated patient encounters before they ever use these skills with actual patients. In addition, the H-E-B Distinguished Chair for Cancer Research is an endowed chair in the School of Medicine.
Charles Butt is a longtime member of the Health Science Center Development Board.
These endowment funds have been announced at previous galas: The John T. and Debbie Montford Fund for Cancer Research, 2010; The Briscoe Family Legacy Fund in Women’s Health, 2008; and The Jocelyn and Joe Straus Endowed Chair in Trauma Research, 2007.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving federal funding. Research and other sponsored program activity totaled $228 million in fiscal year 2010. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced approximately 26,000 graduates. The $744 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.