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| Vol. 23, No. 5 |
| April 1, 2001 |
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M. D. Anderson Foundation Honored at Luncheon By DR. BRYANT BOUTWELL The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston A luncheon was recently hosted by Dr. L. Maximilian Buja, dean of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and his wife Donna, to recognize the many contributions the M. D. Anderson Foundation has made to the UT-Houston Medical School, the Texas Medical Center, and the Houston community. The luncheon event spotlighted the A.G. McNeese Chair in Pediatric Surgery and the generous support of the late A.G. McNeese, a former chair of the UT Board of Regents and M. D. Anderson Foundation president. Members of the McNeese family were present at the luncheon along with members of the foundation's current trustees. In their remarks, Dr. Buja, along with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston President Dr. James T. Willerson, noted that the M. D. Anderson Foundation's generosity to the Medical School and all components of the UT-Houston Health Science Center is unmatched. "Whether measured in terms of total dollar contributions, or sheer willingness to help further priority programs, the Medical School and the Health Science Center owe the trustees a tremendous debt of gratitude," Dr. Buja noted. Named after its founder, Monroe Dunaway Anderson, the M. D. Anderson Foundation was instrumental in the creation of the Texas Medical Center and the naming of The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The Medical School's first building, the John H. Freeman Building, was named after one of the foundation's early trustees. Examples of the foundation's support include: endowments in pediatric surgery and ophthalmology; assistance in establishing the Hermann Eye Center; establishment of the Medical School's Department of Molecular Genetics; expansion of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy; the Positron Diagnostic and Research Center with its cyclotron; the children's playground at Memorial Hermann Children's Hospital; and gifts to The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston, the Institute of Molecular Medicine, and The University of Texas School of Nursing at Houston. The name A.G. McNeese holds special meaning in relation to the M. D. Anderson Foundation's many contributions. As a Univversity of Texas student, UT-trained attorney, chairman of the UT Board of Regents, and former president of the M. D. Anderson Foundation, the late A.G. McNeese was instrumental in the development of many UT programs including scholarship funds established at the Medical School to support disadvantaged students. The most recent linkage to the McNeese name came in 1991 with the establishment of the A.G. McNeese Jr. Professorship in Ophthalmology at the Medical School through gifts from the M. D. Anderson Foundation and the Hermann Eye Fund. The A.G. McNeese Chair in Pediatric Surgery, established in 1982, received special recognition during the luncheon. Dr. Kevin P. Lally, a professor in the Department of Surgery and head of the Division of Pediatric Surgery, was named the holder of that chair last fall. Prior to Dr. Lally being named to the McNeese Chair, it was held by Dr. Richard J. Andrassy, surgery chairman and now holder of the Denton A. Cooley, M.D. Chair in Surgery.
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