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UT Regents present highest honor to The Sealy & Smith Foundation

GALVESTON—The University of Texas System Board of Regents Wednesday night presented the Santa Rita Award to The Sealy & Smith Foundation for its longtime and deep commitment to The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

 

The UT System Board of Regents presented The Sealy & Smith Foundation with the Santa Rita Award Wednesday night. From left: Regents Chairman Paul Foster, Sealy & Smith Board President John Kelso and Chancellor William McRaven.
The UT System Board of Regents presented The Sealy & Smith Foundation with the Santa Rita Award Wednesday night. From left: Regents Chairman Paul Foster, Sealy & Smith Board President John Kelso and Chancellor William McRaven.

The Santa Rita Award has been presented just 25 times since 1968 and is reserved for individuals or organizations that have a transformative impact on the UT System or a UT institution. It is the highest honor bestowed by the UT System Board of Regents.

Over the past 125 years, the Sealy Family and The Sealy & Smith Foundation have contributed nearly $1 billion to support medical education and ensure the residents of Galveston – and beyond – have access to first-class health care.

“The Board of Directors is actively engaged, and deeply invested, not just financially, but personally, in making sure the people have access to the best possible medical resources,” Regents Chairman Paul Foster said during his presentation of the Santa Rita medallion to the Foundation. “But the work they support – not just in patient care but also in research – is so vitally important that its impact is felt beyond Galveston, beyond Texas or the United States.”

The Sealy & Smith Foundation is the largest single entity contributor to a UT System institution.

“We like to think that we have made a difference here,” said John Kelso, president of the Board of Directors for The Sealy & Smith Foundation. “This island is our home and we believe every contribution one makes to their hometown is returned to them ten-fold.”

The Sealy’s family contributions to Galveston date back to before 1890 when a bequest by John Sealy, a successful businessman, was used to build John Sealy Hospital. The construction of the hospital played a critical role in the state’s decision to finally build a medical school in Galveston that would later become UTMB.

“The Foundation’s philanthropy has saved countless lives, launched the medical careers of some of our state and nation’s pre-eminent health care leaders and improved the health of its beloved community for generations.”

John Sealy’s children, John Sealy II and Jennie Sealy Smith, and Jennie’s husband, R. Waverley Smith, established The Sealy & Smith Foundation in 1922. Today, UTMB includes the current John Sealy Hospital and 24 buildings and facilities donated or owned by the foundation. The foundation also has given $27 million for 27 faculty endowments and established the John Sealy Memorial Endowment Fund for Biomedical Research with a $25 million donation.

Most recently, the Foundation committed $170 million toward construction of the Jennie Sealy Hospital, which is expected to open later this month.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that the UTMB of today exists because of the philanthropy of the first John Sealy and the unwavering commitment of his family to follow through with the intent of his bequest,” UTMB President David Callender said. “The Foundation’s philanthropy has saved countless lives, launched the medical careers of some of our state and nation’s pre-eminent health care leaders and improved the health of its beloved community for generations.”

The Santa Rita Award, first presented in 1968, is named for the Santa Rita No. 1, the first producing oil well on University Lands in West Texas. The well hit oil in 1923 and jumpstarted the growth of the Permanent University Fund, which has provided a unique and critical funding stream for The University of Texas System and its institutions.

Previous recipients of the Santa Rita Award include James Huffines; former Texas Gov. William P. Clements and his wife, Rita; former Gov. Dolph Briscoe, Jr.; Bernard Rapoport; Frank Denius; Margaret McDermott; Wales H. Madden, Jr.; Peter T. Flawn; former Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock; Jack S. Blanton; Jess Hay; Larry Temple; Peter O’Donnell, Jr.; former Lt. Gov. William P. Hobby; J. Erik Jonsson; Mary Moody Northen; John H. Freeman; John W. McCullough; Cecil H. Green; Harry H. Ransom; Eugene McDermott; Hines H. Baker and Ima Hogg.

About The University of Texas System

Educating students, providing care for patients, conducting groundbreaking basic, applied and clinical research, and serving the needs of Texans and the nation for more than 130 years, The University of Texas System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States. With 14 institutions and an enrollment of more than 217,000, the UT System confers more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees, educates almost two-thirds of the state’s health care professionals annually and accounts for almost 70 percent of all research funds awarded to public institutions in Texas. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $16.9 billion (FY 2016) including $3 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources. With about 20,000 faculty – including Nobel laureates – and more than 70,000 health care professionals, researchers, student advisors and support staff, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.

News Contact Information

Jenny LaCoste-Caputo: jcaputo@utsystem.edu  • 512-499-4361(direct) • 512-574-5777 (cell) 
Karen Adler: kadler@utsystem.edu  • 512-499-4360 (direct) • 210-912-8055 (cell)