SAN ANTONIO (January 22, 2015) — Lowry and Peggy Mays have long been involved in helping the Cancer Therapy & Research Center become the premiere cancer treatment and research center in South Texas.
On Jan. 21, at the CTRC’s 40th Anniversary Reunion Dinner, they announced a gift of $5 million from the Mays Family Foundation.
“We are delighted to honor the CTRC for its 40 years of life-changing work and support its aspirations for the future,” Lowry Mays said.
The $5 million will endow the Mays Family Foundation Distinguished University Presidential Chair for the Director of the CTRC, and will accelerate the progress of the CTRC at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio to a new level of excellence.
“This endowment is an extraordinary gift that will fuel opportunities for scientific breakthroughs and invest in the best and brightest minds in cancer research,” said CTRC director Ian M. Thompson Jr., M.D.
In a time of diminishing funding for scientific research, the Mays Family Foundation chair will allow for investment in important programs such as pilot research, faculty recruitment and retention, clinical trials, new technology and cancer prevention.
“It is a remarkable testament to the Mays’s continuing commitment to the community, and to the important role the CTRC has played herein, that they are not only early supporters and the founders of the CTRC Cabinet, but now have committed to helping us reach ever-higher standards of excellence,” Dr. Thompson said.
“They planted a seed that has grown into a full tree,” he said. “Now they’re planting again, and we’re soon to have an orchard.”
The Mays Family Foundation, formed in 1994, is committed to supporting the community through causes that empower, enrich and educate. Combined with the Clear Channel Foundation, it has contributed over $55 million to the communities in which the family lives, works or serves.
The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of the elite academic cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Designated Cancer Center, and is one of only four in Texas. A leader in developing new drugs to treat cancer, the CTRC Institute for Drug Development (IDD) conducts one of the largest oncology Phase I clinical drug programs in the world, and participates in development of cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. For more information, visit www.ctrc.net.