This morning, at a small ceremony in the Old Red Amphitheater, a document was signed by officials from UT System, The Sealy & Smith Foundation and UTMB to officially change the name of our School of Medicine. I am very pleased to announce that, from this day forward, the University of Texas Medical Branch is home to the John Sealy School of Medicine.

This historic change is happening on a historic day. Exactly 100 years ago, on March 10, 1922, The Sealy & Smith Foundation was established. The naming of the School of Medicine is in honor of the Texas entrepreneur, philanthropist and Sealy family patriarch whose original bequest of $50,000 helped build the first John Sealy Hospital, thereby inspiring the state of Texas to open the UT Medical Department in Galveston. John Sealy’s direct descendants started the Foundation to ensure ongoing support for the care of Galvestonians and the university’s mission.

Between John Sealy’s death and the Foundation’s establishment, the Sealy family contributed significant personal funds to expand health care and operate the hospital. Since 1922, the Foundation has contributed more than $1 billion to our mission—one of the largest cumulative contributions to an American institution in history.

Everything UTMB is today—and will be in the future—can trace its origins to this unprecedented philanthropy. Because of this support, we have grown from being the state’s first medical school into an academic medical center that continues to care for Galvestonians while improving health worldwide.

From four generations of Galveston Campus hospitals to the Galveston National Laboratory, from faculty endowments now collectively valued at $80 million to a biomedical research fund that is now worth $180 million, the Foundation’s support can be felt both locally and nationally in all areas of UTMB’s mission.

To learn more, read the related press release. 

You can also view a brief video on the John Sealy family and The Sealy & Smith Foundation.

A video recording of today’s signing ceremony will be available soon.

We are deeply grateful to John Sealy, his family and The Sealy & Smith Foundation for their role in establishing, sustaining and growing UTMB. They have always been committed to supporting health sciences education, medical research and clinical advances, with a vision rooted in the health of Galveston but also benefitting our state, nation and world. It is a most fitting tribute that the state’s first school of medicine be named for John Sealy.

Please join me in celebrating this milestone for our community, our university and our mission.

Thank you.

Ben G. Raimer, MD, MA, FAAP

President