When Galveston entrepreneur and philanthropist John Sealy died in 1884, his will stipulated that $50,000 should be designated for “a charitable purpose” to be determined by his brother, George, and his widow, Rebecca. Galveston had no hospital at the time, so they allocated the bequest to build one. The original John Sealy Hospital opened in 1890. Over the years, individual family members continued to contribute generously to UTMB; in 1922, John and Rebecca’s children Jennie Sealy Smith and John Sealy II established The Sealy & Smith Foundation to perpetuate their family’s longstanding tradition of improving health care for citizens of Galveston.  

In 2004, The Sealy & Smith Foundation reached the milestone of having contributed $500 million to UTMB since 1922. The tangible evidence of such uncommon generosity can be seen in more than half of the buildings on the UTMB campus today, and in the sophisticated diagnostic, therapeutic and research equipment housed within those buildings. Less tangible, but no less significant, are the numerous programs of clinical, research and educational excellence that exist because support from The Sealy & Smith Foundation. In addition, Sealy & Smith grants have often resulted in funding from other philanthropies and government sources, thereby increasing their impact many fold.

Most importantly, each dollar represents an effort to improve the lives of others by providing them access to the highest-quality patient care, by spurring progress in the practice and study of medicine, and by supporting UTMB in its efforts to train future generations of health scientists. In this way, The Sealy & Smith Foundation has touched the lives of countless men, women and children who have received care at the university, have been cared for by a UTMB graduate or have benefited from a research discovery made a Texas’ oldest academic health center.

The generous support from The Sealy & Smith Foundation over the past eight decades have provided such a strong foundation for progress that UTMB has been able to embark on an ambitious 20-year plan that will transform the university’s clinical, research and educational enterprises. The plan calls not only for new buildings, but new ways of practicing the art and science of medicine.

For this, UTMB and those we serve will be eternally grateful.

When George Sealy (brother of John Sealy) built Open Gates for his wife, Magnolia Willis Sealy, in 1889, it was considered to be the finest home in Galveston, and like no other in the southern United Sates. After serving as the family home for many years, George Sealy’s descendents generously donated Open Gates to UTMB in 1969, and The Sealy & Smith Foundation supported its renovation.)

Major Campus Facilities That Have Benefited from Sealy & Smith Foundation Funding
John Sealy Hospital
John Sealy Annex (1954 John Sealy Hospital)
Rebecca Sealy Hospital
R. Waverley Smith Pavilion
Jennie Sealy Hospital
Emergency Room
University Hospital Clinics
John Sealy Pavilion for Infectious Diseases Research
Keiller Building
Research Facilities Expansion
Clinic Sciences Building
John W. McCullough Building
Truman Graves Blocker, Jr., Medical Research Building
1902 Harborside Drive
Open Gates Conference Center
Ronald McDonald House

Sealy Centers for Research Excellence
Sealy Center on Aging
Sealy Center for Cancer Cell Biology
Sealy Center for environmental Health and Medicine
Sealy Center for Molecular Sciences
Sealy Center for Structural Biology
Sealy Center for Vaccine Development

Faculty Endowments Made Possible by The Sealy & Smith Foundation
John Sealy Distinguished University Chair in Human Infections and Immunity
John Sealy Distinguished University Chair in Tropical and Emerging Virology
John Woods Harris Distinguished Chair in Surgery
Rebecca Terry White Distinguished Chair in Anesthesiology
Jennie Sealy Smith Distinguished Chair in Obstetrics and Gynecology
John Sealy Distinguished Centennial Chair in Radiation Therapy
John Sealy Distinguished Chair in Pediatrics
John Sealy Distinguished Centennial Chair in Neonatology
John Sealy Distinguished Centennial Chair in Rehabilitation Sciences
John Sealy Distinguished Centennial Chair in Cardiology
Rebecca Sealy Distinguished Centennial Chair in the School of Nursing
John Sealy Distinguished Chair in Clinical Research
Edward Randall and Edward Randall, Jr. Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine
Thomas N. and Gleaves T. James Distinguished Chair
John Sealy Distinguished Chair for M.D./Ph.D. Combined Degree Studies in Honor of
Dr. Truman G. Blocker
The Sealy & Smith Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine
John Sealy Chair in Neurology
John Sealy in Dermatology
Sealy and Smith Professorship in Pediatrics
National Endowment for the Humanities/The Sealy & Smith Foundation Faculty Seminars
Program Fund

Researchers Supported by the John Sealy Memorial Endowment Fund for
Biomedical Research
(Fiscal Year 2004)