UTMB kicked off the Faculty and Staff Campaign for its newest fundraising initiative—Innovations in Mind—at the Feb. 2 Town Hall meeting.
The entire $50 million Innovations in Mind initiative will partially support construction of the new Health Education Center on the Galveston Campus, help create faculty endowments and student scholarships, and bolster neurodegenerative disorders research. The Faculty and Staff Campaign is the opportunity for members of the UTMB family to invest in these priorities.
“This initiative represents an excellent opportunity for us to support one or more of these goals that will continue to shape the future of UTMB’s missions moving forward,” said UTMB President Dr. David L. Callender.
Specifically, the overall Innovations in Mind campaign’s fundraising goals include:
- Health Education Center: $22.6 million to cover the balance of the $90.4 million project that remained after the Texas Legislature gave UTMB $67.8 million for the facility’s construction in its last session;
- Faculty support: $10 million to fund endowments and recruitment initiatives to attract and retain additional world-class faculty members;
- Student scholarships: $10 million;
- Neurodegenerative disorders research: $7.4 million.
For the first time, UTMB’s student body is also involved in raising funds as part of an initiative. During the Town Hall, the four student co-chairs for the Innovations in Mind Student Campaign presented a $14,876 check to Callender, which represented the funds raised from 232 students and a donor match who contributed as of Feb. 1.
“On behalf of the UTMB student body, I want to thank you for allowing us to participate in this campaign that will help define the future for UTMB,” said School of Medicine student campaign co-chair Samee Hameed. “I believe, and the rest of our co-chairs also believe, that the Health Education Center is essential and that it increases both the value and the education that UTMB can provide.”
The four co-chairs of the Faculty and Staff Campaign—Dr. Danny O. Jacobs, executive vice president and provost, dean of the School of Medicine; Dr. David Niesel, senior vice president and dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; Dr. Elizabeth Protas, senior vice president and dean of the School of Health Professions; and Dr. Pamela Watson, senior vice president for interprofessional education and institutional effectiveness and dean of the School of Nursing—were also recognized during Town Hall.
Callender also acknowledged the Innovations in Mind co-chairs who will work with contributors outside of UTMB: Development Board members and alumni Dr. Peter Thompson and Susanne Sullivan.
For more information about the Innovations in Mind Faculty and Staff Campaign and to make your gift, please visit https://innovationsinmind.utmb.edu/employee.