UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas has announced a $100 million gift from the O’Donnell Foundation in support its new school of public health.

According to the university, the largest gift to a U.S. school of public health at a public university will help establish the first new school at UT in more than 50 years, which will join the UT Southwestern Medical School, School of Health Professions, and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. The majority of the funds will create an endowment to provide support for the new school’s research and educational programs, and the balance will support the school’s programmatic initiatives and recruitment of new faculty.

The school is focused on advancing public health broadly through research and meeting the need for an expanded expert public health workforce. It will leverage the research strengths and experience of UT Southwestern’s three existing schools as well as previous investments by UT Southwestern in public health research and interventions.

In recognition of the gift, UT Southwestern will name the school after the foundation’s founder, Peter O’Donnell, Jr., who died last year. It will enroll its first students for the Master of Public Health degree in the fall of 2023, followed by launch of doctoral degree programs the following year. 

“Peter and Edith O’Donnell cared deeply about UT Southwestern and making a difference in the greater Dallas community,” said O’Donnell Foundation president and CEO William T. Solomon. “These two passions are inextricably linked in the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health. We are proud to share a gift that honors the O’Donnells’ immeasurable legacy and makes a lasting impact on UT Southwestern and the communities of North Texas.”

(Photo Credit: Getty Images/Chinnapong)