Dallas-based University of Texas Southwestern will use a $100 million donation to endow and support its School of Public Health, the university said this week.
The gift is from the O'Donnell Foundation created by the late philanthropist Peter O'Donnell Jr. and his wife, Edith, the university said in a March 1 news release. The donation was given to accelerate the creation of the recently established school.
In honor of the gift — the largest given to a school of public health at a public university in the U.S. — the new school has been named the Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, according to the release.
Most of the donation will support the school's research and educational program; the remainder will be used to recruit faculty.
The couple have given more than $400 million to the university.
"Peter and Edith O'Donnell understood the vital role of academic medicine in addressing the health challenges facing society," university President Daniel Podolsky, MD, said in the news release. "No one has been more generous in their support of UT Southwestern than the O'Donnells and their foundation, funding many of the medical center's most innovative and impactful initiatives over more than four decades."