Days before families gather together for the Thanksgiving holiday, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) gave thanks of their own Monday to celebrate the John P. McGovern Foundation\u2019s $75 million endowment and the renaming of the UTHealth Medical School.<\/p>\n
In honor of the \u201ctransformational\u201d gift, lauded as being the single largest gift from the foundation and in the school\u2019s history, UTHealth Medical School has now been renamed the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we honor the tremendous legacy of Dr. John P. McGovern and his wife Kathrine, and we celebrate how this transformational gift will impact each and every one of you for years to come,\u201d UTHealth President Giuseppe N. Colasurdo, M.D., said during the unveiling ceremony in Webber Plaza. \u201cThe McGovern name is synonymous with service, knowledge and compassion \u2013 values that are embedded in the very foundation of our university.\u201d<\/p>\n
The endowment will go toward supporting UTHealth\u2019s medical training and funding for scientific research and innovation. In addition, the donation will help support the school\u2019s McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics, a program that focuses on the moral, spiritual and cultural elements within the biomedical sciences to provide compassionate, humanistic care to patients. The center was founded in 2004 by a previous endowment by the foundation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know my late husband would be so proud to see the McGovern name linked to such a forward-thinking institution devoted to teaching generations of future physicians to be humanistic and compassionate caregivers,\u201d said Kathrine G. McGovern, wife of the late John P. McGovern and president of the John P. McGovern Foundation.<\/p>\n
During the ceremony, five students received their new white coats, bearing the new name of the medical school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it makes me remember why I\u2019m doing this and why I\u2019m here,\u201d first-year medical student Esther Osuji said of her new white coat. \u201cIt makes me more excited because I have a very prestigious name on this white coat. I\u2019m definitely going to wear it with pride and it\u2019s going to make me want to work harder because I know just what an amazing gift [Kathrine G. McGovern] gave to us and that she gave from her heart. That only makes me want to work harder.\u201d<\/p>\n
The endowment encompasses support for medical training, research and programs, but it will also fund 10 full scholarships for students with both strong academic accomplishments and compassion for patients and their families. According to UTHealth, the number of scholarships is expected to increase over time.<\/p>\n
Osuji, one of three recipients of existing McGovern scholarships, said paying for her undergraduate education at The University of Texas in Austin came with its own financial burdens and, as a result, was concerned about the expensive price tag of medical school.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo find out that I got accepted into medical school is really exciting, but financially, I [didn\u2019t] know how I\u2019m supposed to make this happen,\u201d she said. \u201cBut when I got that scholarship, I was really emotional. I kind of screamed. I cried a little bit and called my mom just because now I know someone actually cares enough to make sure I\u2019m going to be in the right place and that what I need taken care of is taken care of and I don\u2019t have to focus on the financial aspect. I can just focus on learning and understanding so that way I can actually help my patients in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
The John P. McGovern Foundation was founded in 1961 by pediatrician, allergist, immunologist and educator John P. McGovern and his wife Kathrine. The foundation was initially named the Texas Allergy Research Foundation but was later renamed to its current title in 1979. Since its inception, the foundation has donated to the Texas Medical Center, throughout the city of Houston and across the country for various teaching awards, professorships and lectureships.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned from watching my grandmother that giving and receiving is the same thing,\u201d McGovern said in a 1996 interview. \u201cI could see in her eyes that it made her feel good. It helped her soul when she was giving.\u201d<\/p>\n
After his death in 2007, Kathrine continued her husband\u2019s legacy of philanthropy as the foundation\u2019s president.<\/p>\n