The late Anne Marion and the Burnett Foundation have made a $25 million gift to establish The Anne W. Marion Endowment in support of the operations of the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine in perpetuity.

This transformational gift will provide funds to support students, faculty and programming for the medical school, the school said in a news release.

With a mission to transform health care by inspiring Empathetic Scholars, the gift is a catalyst that will enable the School of Medicine to be a leader in medical education, delivery of care and scholarship and necessary skills for complex health care issues, including the challenges of providing care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I am inspired by the vision of the School of Medicine to transform medical education. This school is bringing considerable advances and innovations that are reshaping curriculum and preparing its graduates to better serve the community. I am pleased to make this gift, Mrs. Marion said before her death in February.

Mrs. Marions family ties to the Fort Worth community date back nearly a century and include a long history of supporting the priorities of the city and its institutions. The Burnett Foundation has been a generous patron of the city investing significant resources to enhance the community in myriad ways.

I am beyond thrilled and grateful for this incredibly generous gift, said Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine. This historic gift will help us empower current and new generations of talented and diverse students and faculty to address the complex health care issues challenging our world. The foundations generosity supports our efforts to create physicians who are highly skilled and knowledgeable yet compassionate care givers.

The TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine received preliminary accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) in 2018 and started its first class of 60 students in July 2019. This support comes at a time when the medical school is beginning preparations for the next step of LCME approval, provisional accreditation.

The gift will support the operations of the school, which offers a novel educational experience, tailored to how students learn best, capitalizing on teamwork and active application sessions and assisting students to retain the knowledge they are learning, with the patient always at the center, the news release said.

This new medical school is training future physicians who will not only care for patients, but will provide care, empathetic communication with patients, and the critical thinking skills to lead in an industry that is always evolving and innovating, TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. said in the announcement. This gift will contribute greatly to current and future faculty and students. I am humbled and thankful that our late colleague and dear friend Anne Marion and the Burnett Foundation embraced our goal of creating Empathetic Scholars with this generous gift to support the School of Medicine.

UNTHSC President Michael R. Williams said at a time when innovation in medical education is not only needed, but also demanded, the gift will ensure that the M.D. School continues to grow its innovative curriculum.

This gift recognizes the vision we had to create a new and different school. I am appreciative of this generous support and thank both Anne Marion and the Burnett Foundation, Williams said.

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$25 million gift for TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine - Fort Worth Business Press