Donors

Neuroscience Research Center owes much to Ellwood Foundation

By Wendy K. Mohon

The Neuroscience Research Center (NRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston might never have been established without funding provided by The Ellwood Foundation, according to John Byrne, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy.

"We essentially could not be in business without The Ellwood Foundation," says Dr. Byrne, director of the NRC since its inception. The Ellwood Foundation, a trust established in Texas in 1958 and committed to supporting medical research and education, has given more than $3.3 million to various programs within the health science center, including several research projects and scholarship funds.

The Ellwood Foundation provided the bulk of startup funds for the NRC in 1992. At that time, Ernst Knobil, Ph.D., former dean of the Medical School, introduced Dr. Byrne to H. Wayne Hightower Sr., then a trustee of The Ellwood Foundation, to discuss the idea of establishing a program "to facilitate interaction among UT faculty and to disseminate information about neuroscience research to health care professionals and the general public," says Dr. Byrne, who holds the June and Virgil Waggoner Chair.

Hightower was enthusiastic about the notion and, with the backing of The Ellwood Foundation board of trustees, committed the first of many annual awards to what would become the NRC. To date, the NRC has received more than $1 million in gifts from The Ellwood Foundation.

"If you're going to stay in the state of Texas and you want to support cuttingedge research, which is why The Ellwood Foundation was formed by D. C. and Irene Ellwood, then The University of Texas System is the way to go," says H.W. "Buddy" Hightower Jr., current Ellwood Foundation trustee and son of Wayne Hightower. Buddy Hightower was recruited to The Ellwood Foundation by one of the organization's early trustees, the late Rayborne Thompson Sr., whose son, Rayborne Thompson Jr., now serves alongside Buddy Hightower as a trustee. The two sons now have become the torchbearers charged with carrying on the legacy of giving instilled in them by their fathers and carried out by the foundation.

"I'm very proud of both my mother's and father's involvement in The Ellwood Foundation and in The University of Texas," said Hightower, who is a graduate of UT Austin. "Some people grow up in farming families and know that's what they're going to do. I grew up knowing I would be actively involved in UT all my life."

Buddy Hightower serves on the UT Health Science Center Development Board, for which his father was a founding member and former president.

In 1982, H. Wayne Hightower Sr. and his wife, Emma Sue, endowed the H. Wayne Hightower Professorship in the Medical Sciences held by Dean Stanley Schultz, M.D.. Five years later, the university funded the Emma Sue Hightower Professorship in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, which is held by Larry Gilstrap III, M.D., in recognition of Hightower's service as Development Board president. He chose to have that professorship named for his wife. The Hightowers also contributed to the Robert K. Creasy, M.D., Professorship in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, which is held by Allan Katz, M.D. Mrs. Hightower died in 2004.

Buddy Hightower's association with The Ellwood Foundation and with Dr. Byrne started early. Even prior to becoming a trustee of the foundation, he met and was impressed with Dr. Byrne.

"Dr. Knobil introduced me to him," Buddy Hightower recalls. "In my tenure on The Ellwood Foundation board, Jack [Byrne] has made all the difference. He's a brilliant academician, but he and his wife, Susan, are also good personal friends."

The NRC accomplishes its mission of communication and education through its annual poster series, a distinguished lectureship series featuring neuroscience Nobel laureates, a quarterly newsletter, a monthly online calendar of neuroscience-related seminars and lectures, and promotion of the center both locally and nationally.

One of the largest NRC projects is an annual public forum in conjunction with National Brain Awareness Week. Hundreds attended the March 2006 forum on "Memory."

"The bulk of the support we receive comes from The Ellwood Foundation," Dr. Byrne says. "We are deeply grateful to The Ellwood Foundation and to the Hightowers for their continued support throughout the history of the NRC."

According to James Willerson, M.D., president of the UT Health Science Center, the dedication of longtime university supporters enhances the school's ability to respond to the education and health-care needs of the community.

"Without the unwavering backing of steadfast supporters such as The Ellwood Foundation, establishing vital community and education programs like the Neuroscience Research Center might still be a goal, rather than a reality," Dr. Willerson says. "We are indebted to The Ellwood Foundation for its firm commitment to the university."