About UTMB Health

Galveston chosen as site for University of Texas Medical Department by popular vote of state’s citizens

A $50,000 bequest from Galveston businessman John Sealy is designated for construction of a hospital in Galveston

John Sealy Hospital Training School for Nurses holds first classes

John Sealy Hospital opens

Medical Department holds first session in the Ashbel Smith Building, named for the physician who advocated creation of the University of Texas and its medical department; building becomes known as “Old Red” for its ruddy granite, brick and sandstone exterior

Three men receive medical degrees from the Medical Department

First women admitted to Medical Department

Medical Department faculty helps construct first X-ray machine in Texas

Training School for Nurses becomes part of Medical Department

Medical School expands to a four-year curriculum

Medical Department graduates first woman

Yellow fever is a major public health concern in Galveston, creating the need for infectious diseases expertise at the new Medical Department

Medical Department heads smallpox quarantine camp on Galveston’s East Beach

The infamous 1900 Hurricane hits Galveston Island; despite damage, classes resume a short time later after Board of Regents decree: “The University of Texas stops for no storm”

First woman on faculty heads Department of Histology and Embryology

Medical Department’s Chair of Surgery is founding member and first vice president of American College of Surgeons

Medical Department raises entrance standards to require two years of college, up from four years of high school

“Spanish flu” hits Galveston

Medical Department officially renamed The University of Texas Medical Branch

The Sealy & Smith Foundation for the John Sealy Hospital chartered

Medical Laboratory Building opens

American Board of Plastic Surgery founded by UTMB faculty

John Sealy Hospital becomes a state facility operated by The University of Texas

UTMB graduates two medical classes in one year to meet demand for physicians during World War II

UTMB mobilizes to care for victims of Texas City explosion; under direction of Dr. Truman Blocker, employs methods of triage learned from World War II

Herman Barnett, UTMB’s first African-American medical student, enrolls

Biomedical graduate programs begin

New John Sealy Hospital building opens

R. Waverley Smith Memorial Pavilion opens

General Clinical Research Center opens

First Shriners Burns Institute dedicated on UTMB campus

Dr. Truman Blocker becomes UTMB’s first president

School of Allied Health Sciences established

Jennie Sealy Hospital dedicated

Marine Biomedical Institute established

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences established

Libbie Moody Thompson Basic Science Building completed

Moody Medical Library opens

Institute for the Medical Humanities established

Dr. William C. Levin becomes UTMB's second president

Current John Sealy Hospital tower opens

Texas Department of Criminal Justice Hospital opens on the UTMB campus

Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Training in International Health established

Dr. Thomas N. James becomes UTMB's third president

Regional Maternal and Child Health Program sees first patient

Sealy Center for Molecular Sciences established

Correctional Managed Care contract with Texas Department of Criminal Justice begins

UTMB conducts its first telehealth consultation

UTMB’s Center for Tropical Diseases designated a World Health Organization Collaborating Center

UTMB acquires World Reference Center for Arboviruses

Sealy Center for Structural Biology established

Sealy Center for Cancer Cell Biology established

Lee Hage Jamail Student Center opens

Primary Care Pavilion opens

UTMB’s Center on Aging named a Sealy Center

UTMB receives federal biodefense grant

Dr. John D. Stobo becomes UTMB's fourth president

UTMB designated a Level I Trauma Center by the American College of Surgeons

UT System approves construction of Biosafety Level 4 lab on the UTMB campus

Acute Care for Elders (ACE) Unit opens in John Sealy Hospital; later named among the best such units in the country for patient satisfaction

John P. McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine inaugurated at UTMB

Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases announced

Sealy Center for Vaccine Development established

School of Nursing graduates first Ph.D. students

UTMB designated as lead institution for Western Center of Excellence for Infectious Diseases Research by the National Institutes of Health

UTMB chosen as site of one of only two proposed national biocontainment laboratories

Biosafety Level 4 laboratory facility dedicated as John Sealy Pavilion for Infectious Diseases Research

Telemedicine program logs its 100,000th consultation since its inception

George and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research established

Institute for Human Infections and Immunity established

Dr. David L. Callender becomes the fifth UTMB president

The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences becomes the first public institution in Texas to offer a doctoral degree in clinical science

Galveston National Laboratory opens as one of only two National Biocontainment Laboratories established by the NIH

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awards $10.9 million contract to UTMB to establish the Clinical Proteomics Center for Infectious Diseases and Biodefense

The Department of Physical Therapy offers doctoral degree in physical therapy

Hurricane Ike hits UTMB Galveston Campus on Sept. 13

UTMB opens four mainland clinics in first week after storm

UTMB delivers its first baby since Hurricane Ike in October

Governor Perry signs legislation authorizing recovery funding for UTMB

UTMB begins massive Hurricane Ike Recovery Projects totaling $947M; designed to make the campus more resilient and to preserve mission-critical education, research and patient care operations

Blocker Burn Unit reopens for adult patients in January

UTMB re-opens John Sealy Hospital as full-service facility with 200 beds in January

NIH awards UTMB prestigious $21.5M Clinical Translational Sciences Award

UTMB’s Emergency Room re-opens as a Level III trauma center in August; faculty, staff and administrators begin working toward Level I re-designation

UTMB launches new brand identity, new logo and tagline “Working Together to Work Wonders”

UTMB becomes a full member institution of the Texas Medical Center

UTMB receives over $4 million in funding for cancer research

NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute awards UTMB $11 million to study conditions associated with airway inflammation

UTMB ED is re-designated as a Level 1 Trauma Center, 1 of 3 in the greater Houston area

Researchers awarded $4.8 million to develop Argentine hemorrhagic fever vaccine

Texas Legislature approves necessary funding to build new hospital, continue Ike recovery

Researchers receive $3 million NIH grant to study aging in Mexico

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approves Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program for UTMB’s School of Nursing

UTMB researchers awarded $7.8 million by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to study effects of BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Researchers develop new candidate vaccine to protect against chikungunya virus

NIH awards $1.7 million for research to fight plague

Board of Regents approves new Jennie Sealy Hospital; The Sealy & Smith Foundation pledges $170 million

UTMB breaks ground for new Jennie Sealy Hospital on Galveston Campus

UTMB selected to manage Center for Polar Medical Operations

The Moody Foundation of Galveston pledges $9 million to support traumatic brain injury research at UTMB

UTMB enters into formal relationship with Angleton Danbury Medical Center, establishing UTMB Angleton Danbury Campus

UTMB named a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Vaccine Research, Evaluation and Training on Emerging Infectious Diseases—only the second university named in the Western Hemisphere

UTMB researchers announce effective treatment against Ebola virus

Time magazine’s 2014 Person of the Year is not one but many—the Ebola fighters—and spotlights UTMB’s Thomas Geisbert

The UTMB fall semester begins with 3,200 students and nearly 900 faculty members; enrollment increased 42% since 2006

The Sealy & Smith Foundation provides $75 million to renovate both the interior and exterior of John Sealy Hospital

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services names UTMB a regional treatment center for patients with Ebola or other highly infectious diseases

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center partners with UTMB to construct outpatient cancer center on the UTMB League City Campus

School of Health Professions graduates first master’s degree in nutrition students

The 125th Anniversary of UTMB

Opening of new Jennie Sealy Hospital

Opening of new hospital on UTMB League City Campus

Hurricane Harvey stalls near the upper Texas coast, dropping more than 40 inches of rain in a 4-day period and causing catastrophic flooding across UTMB’s service area.

The Sealy Institute for Vaccine Sciences is announced, evolving from what had been the Sealy Center for Vaccine Development. The institute will play a pivotal role in the coming years.

UTMB’s Clear Lake Campus Hospital opens in Webster and begins to serve patients in the Clear Lake area.

UTMB welcomes its first students in the five-story, $91.6 million Health Education Center, a new advanced learning environment.

Dr. Ben Raimer, who has held numerous academic and administrative positions during a UTMB career spanning three decades, is appointed president ad interim. 

COVID-19 is declared a pandemic. UTMB researchers are already hard at work on the mysterious new virus. UTMB will serve key roles regionally and nationally, as a reference source for the virus, in developing COVID testing and later, in testing the effectiveness of vaccine options.

UTMB completes the renovation of 220,000 square feet of the John Sealy Hospital to serve women, infants and children. The major project was generously funded by The Sealy and Smith Foundation.

The Department of Neurosurgery is established, having formerly been a division in the Department of Surgery. Dr. Peter Kan is the department’s first chairman.

The League City Campus Hospital expansion is completed, adding a new five-story patient tower with 60 new patient beds and needed support areas.

UTMB received and began administering the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to its “first tier” healthcare workers. In the months that follow, the university and its partners will lead efforts to provide vaccinations in the region.

Winter Storm Uri slams into Texas with record low temperatures, taking out the power grid across large areas and creating water supply issues due to frozen pipes. UTMB perseveres.

The opening of the Dave Bleakney Building in Angleton, a large primary and specialty care center developed in collaboration with the Angleton-Danbury Hospital District, caps a period of growth and ongoing commitment for UTMB in Brazoria County.

UT Board of Regents and the Council on Education for Public Health grant approval to open a UTMB School of Public and Population Health.

UTMB celebrates its 130 anniversary.

Dr. Charles P. Mouton is appointed as President ad interim for the University of Texas Medical Branch. He is also serving as Executive Vice President, Provost and Dean of the John Sealy School of Medicine, and Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at UTMB Health.

Jochen Reiser, MD, PhD, begins his tenure as president of UTMB Health. A physician scientist, Dr. Reiser comes to the university as a world-renowned health care, innovation and research leader with nearly two decades of experience across various academic health systems and universities.