Tench and Simone Coxe Invest $100 Million in University of Texas Medical Center

AUSTIN, Texas - The University of Texas at Austin is launching its planned world-class academic medical center with the help of a $100 million transformational gift from Austin residents Tench and Simone Coxe. The new UT medical center integrates the work of the University's leading academic and research enterprise, its Dell Medical School, and UT MD Anderson cancer care as part of a digitally enabled, patient-centered academic health system that delivers the highest quality of care in Central Texas.

The Coxes' gift, one of the largest in the University's history, is a catalyst for monumental change to the Central Texas health care landscape. The UT medical center will bring an advanced level of care to Austin, reflecting both the city's rapidly growing health care needs and the world-class expertise driving the medical center's development. Ultimately, it will cement The University of Texas and the region as a premier destination for health care.

"Great medical care changes lives, and we want more people to have access to it," Simone Coxe said. "What inspired us was a bold vision to build something here that could become a new model for health care in Austin and beyond."

Tench Coxe, whose venture-capital career included early support for companies such as Nvidia, said the opportunity to back strong leadership and help build an institution from the ground up was compelling. That confidence grew after he was introduced to Claudia Lucchinetti, M.D., UT's senior vice president for medical affairs and dean of Dell Medical School.

"We have a close friend who had to travel to Houston for care she should have been able to get here at home," he said. "Having spent my career backing strong leaders, meeting Claudia made it clear: Supporting the vision for the UT medical center is exactly the opportunity Austin needed."

"This extraordinary act of generosity adds momentum to bring our boldest aspirations to life and change health care in Austin as we know it," Lucchinetti said. "UT's medical center will unite care, discovery and education in ways that redefine what's possible, for Texas and beyond."

Much more than just a University initiative, the medical center will be a model of academic medicine that others will look to for decades to come, UT President Jim Davis said.

"Integrating UT's world-class research into this new, advanced medical system will be a game changer," Davis said. "What is starting here will change medicine, life sciences research, and the health and vitality of countless lives. The Coxes' generosity is transformative in making this happen, and we cannot thank them enough."

A key component of the medical center will be a new UT hospital development focused on complex and serious conditions, combined with the world-renowned UT MD Anderson Cancer Center's expansion to Austin. In a region where the rate of people leaving the area to seek care for serious medical needs is as high as 25%, the medical center will be part of an integrated academic health system bringing advanced treatments closer to home for Central Texans.

The health system also includes UT's existing outpatient clinics, Dell Medical School, and its affiliated partnerships, including with Ascension's Dell Seton and Dell Children's medical centers, as well as with Central Health and CommUnityCare Health Centers. UT's research enterprise, which includes globally recognized advancements in artificial intelligence, engineering, robotics, pharmacy, nursing and social work, will drive the next generation of prevention, diagnoses, treatments and cures.

Because the Coxes' investment is unrestricted, leaders will be able to direct resources to the areas of greatest need. Priorities include recruiting more world-class clinicians and scientists, supporting construction, investing in technology, and expanding programs that improve access and promote health in our communities.

The Coxes initially planned to remain anonymous but decided to make their gift public to encourage others to join in advancing the vision for the medical center.

"That they chose to invest at this level speaks volumes about the urgency and importance of our work," Lucchinetti said. "We are confident this gift will inspire others to join us in shaping the future of health."

The UT medical center is expected to open in 2030.