Contributor Stories

Each year, generous philanthropists support Houston Methodist's research, education and patient care initiatives. These gifts play an important role in advancing our leading medicine mission. Each gift makes a difference in our patients’ lives and the future of medicine. 

 

Transformational Gift from The Levant Foundation Enables Cardiovascular Advances
The Levant Foundation has made possible three important positions in the field of cardiovascular health care and research at Houston Methodist. One position will allow the advancement of cardiovascular imaging while another will enable new research and health care strategies and strengthen existing ones. The third will provide steady funding to allow physician-scientists to harness the power of artificial intelligence and big data to pioneer new techniques for early heart disease detection and prevention.

Two Philanthropic Couples Commit $10 Million to EnMed
EnMed is the nation’s first fully integrated engineering and medical curriculum that leads to both a doctorate of medicine and a master’s degree in engineering in four years. The program—a partnership among Houston Methodist, Texas A&M College of Engineering and Texas A&M College of Medicine—will train a new kind of physician with an engineering mindset that will invent transformational technologies to address health care’s greatest challenges. Craig Brown and Sue Smith and Frank and Jean Raymond each generously directed $1 million to endow chairs for EnMed leaders and $4 million to fund Capstone Innovator Awards. 

 

Houston Methodist Receives Gift to Launch Houston Alzheimer’s Study
Jeanne and Joe Bob Perkins established a challenge initiative that has helped attract some twenty generous benefactors to date, supporting the Houston Alzheimer’s Study. Houston Methodist is partnering with investigators from Baylor College of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center on this multi-institutional project. 

 

Ann Kimball and John W. Johnson Center for Cellular Therapeutics
In 2019, Ann Kimball and John W. Johnson made a transformational gift to support the building and equipping of a 5,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art cellular therapeutics laboratory and fabrication facility located in the Houston Methodist Outpatient Center. 

 

Fondren Foundation Commits $15 Million 
The Fondren Foundation has made a $15 million commitment to Houston Methodist to support the Food and Health Alliance, the Immunology Center and to create the Fondren Inflammation Collaborative, a new multidisciplinary program that will provide hope for people with complex allergy, immunologic, autoimmune and GI conditions. 

 

Houston Methodist Receives Record $101 Million Gift
Houston Methodist has received a $101 million philanthropic gift from Paula and Rusty Walter and the Walter Oil & Gas Corporation to attract and retain the most talented physicians and scientists who will help pioneer lifesaving new treatments for patients suffering from diseases of all kinds. This gift is the largest in the institution’s 100-year history. 

 

Jerold B. Katz Foundation Makes $21 Million Commitment

Houston Methodist has received an extraordinary $21 million gift, a commitment that is primed to advance the pursuit of life-changing discoveries in the laboratory and could lead to innovative treatments for some of the world’s most critical health issues. The gift from the Jerold B. Katz Foundation focuses on medical research and its unlimited potential by providing the sustained resources needed to accelerate effective medical discoveries to the marketplace.

The Hamill Foundation Fuels the Men's Health Initiative
The Hamill Foundation helped establish the Men’s Comprehensive Health Initiative in the Houston Methodist Department of Urology. This program will enhance overall men’s health by providing coordinated specialty care, translational research and health professional education.

Houston Methodist Receives Gift to Name Neurology Department
Joan Appel made a philanthropic commitment to Houston Methodist to name the Department of Neurology the Stanley H. Appel Department of Neurology to support research, education and patient care. The gift is in recognition of her husband’s impact on Houston Methodist and the field of neurology. The gift also creates the Stanley H. Appel, MD Chair in Translational Neurosciences. 

Dagmar Dow Dunn Innovator Award
In 2015, Eva Lynn and Steve made a philanthropic commitment to establish the Dagmar Dow Dunn Innovator Award, a bold collaborative translational research program between Houston Methodist and Rice University. The program honors Steve’s mother and grandfather – Dagmar Dow Dunn and Charles Milby Dow.
 
The Simmons Collaboration
The collaboration between Texas Children’s and Houston Methodist Hospital was made possible by philanthropists, Virginia “Ginny” and L.E. Simmons who created the program after the 2014 Ebola virus scare highlighted the need for more focus on these infectious diseases. The collaboration between the two resulted in the country’s first hospital-based rapid tests for the Zika virus.

Houston Methodist Receives $6.5 Million Gift to Name Liver Center
The Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation at Houston Methodist Hospital is now named the Sherrie and Alan Conover Center for Liver Disease & Transplantation. The Conovers, who live in Estero, Fla., donated a $6.5 million gift to the center that will be used for research, outreach and education.
 
Houston Methodist’s commitment to provide specialty medical care to uninsured and underserved patients received a boost with a $4 million gift from Occidental Petroleum Corporation. Occidental’s gift allows the Houston Methodist Scholars program to expand and offer additional specialty care to communities throughout the greater Houston area.

We invite you to learn more about these contributors and others  in the Houston Methodist Hospital Foundation Magazine.


Through a generous donation from The Levant Foundation, three important positions in the field of cardiovascular health care and research have been established.


Two Philanthropic Couples Commit $10 Million to EnMed
EnMed is the nation’s first fully integrated engineering and medical curriculum that leads to both a doctorate of medicine and a master’s degree in engineering in four years. The program—a partnership among Houston Methodist, Texas A&M College of Engineering and Texas A&M College of Medicine—will train a new kind of physician with an engineering mindset that will invent transformational technologies to address health care’s greatest challenges. Craig Brown and Sue Smith and Frank and Jean Raymond each generously directed $1 million to endow chairs for EnMed leaders and $4 million to fund Capstone Innovator Awards. 

 

Houston Methodist Receives Gift to Launch Houston Alzheimer’s Study
Jeanne and Joe Bob Perkins established a challenge initiative that has helped attract some twenty generous benefactors to date, supporting the Houston Alzheimer’s Study. Houston Methodist is partnering with investigators from Baylor College of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center on this multi-institutional project. 

 

Ann Kimball and John W. Johnson Center for Cellular Therapeutics
In 2019, Ann Kimball and John W. Johnson made a transformational gift to support the building and equipping of a 5,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art cellular therapeutics laboratory and fabrication facility located in the Houston Methodist Outpatient Center. 

 

Fondren Foundation Commits $15 Million 
The Fondren Foundation has made a $15 million commitment to Houston Methodist to support the Food and Health Alliance, the Immunology Center and to create the Fondren Inflammation Collaborative, a new multidisciplinary program that will provide hope for people with complex allergy, immunologic, autoimmune and GI conditions. 

 

Houston Methodist Receives Record $101 Million Gift
Houston Methodist has received a $101 million philanthropic gift from Paula and Rusty Walter and the Walter Oil & Gas Corporation to attract and retain the most talented physicians and scientists who will help pioneer lifesaving new treatments for patients suffering from diseases of all kinds. This gift is the largest in the institution’s 100-year history. 

 

Jerold B. Katz Foundation Makes $21 Million Commitment

Houston Methodist has received an extraordinary $21 million gift, a commitment that is primed to advance the pursuit of life-changing discoveries in the laboratory and could lead to innovative treatments for some of the world’s most critical health issues. The gift from the Jerold B. Katz Foundation focuses on medical research and its unlimited potential by providing the sustained resources needed to accelerate effective medical discoveries to the marketplace.

The Hamill Foundation Fuels the Men's Health Initiative
The Hamill Foundation helped establish the Men’s Comprehensive Health Initiative in the Houston Methodist Department of Urology. This program will enhance overall men’s health by providing coordinated specialty care, translational research and health professional education.

Houston Methodist Receives Gift to Name Neurology Department
Joan Appel made a philanthropic commitment to Houston Methodist to name the Department of Neurology the Stanley H. Appel Department of Neurology to support research, education and patient care. The gift is in recognition of her husband’s impact on Houston Methodist and the field of neurology. The gift also creates the Stanley H. Appel, MD Chair in Translational Neurosciences. 

Dagmar Dow Dunn Innovator Award
In 2015, Eva Lynn and Steve made a philanthropic commitment to establish the Dagmar Dow Dunn Innovator Award, a bold collaborative translational research program between Houston Methodist and Rice University. The program honors Steve’s mother and grandfather – Dagmar Dow Dunn and Charles Milby Dow.
 
The Simmons Collaboration
The collaboration between Texas Children’s and Houston Methodist Hospital was made possible by philanthropists, Virginia “Ginny” and L.E. Simmons who created the program after the 2014 Ebola virus scare highlighted the need for more focus on these infectious diseases. The collaboration between the two resulted in the country’s first hospital-based rapid tests for the Zika virus.

Houston Methodist Receives $6.5 Million Gift to Name Liver Center
The Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation at Houston Methodist Hospital is now named the Sherrie and Alan Conover Center for Liver Disease & Transplantation. The Conovers, who live in Estero, Fla., donated a $6.5 million gift to the center that will be used for research, outreach and education.
 
Houston Methodist’s commitment to provide specialty medical care to uninsured and underserved patients received a boost with a $4 million gift from Occidental Petroleum Corporation. Occidental’s gift allows the Houston Methodist Scholars program to expand and offer additional specialty care to communities throughout the greater Houston area.

We invite you to learn more about these contributors and others  in the Houston Methodist Hospital Foundation Magazine.
 More to Explore
Ways to Give
Volunteer
Contributor Stories
News