The medical school at UT San Antonio bears the name of Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long, a couple whose giving opened the door to a medical education for hundreds of South Texas students.
Joe R. Long, a San Antonio native, died Oct. 7. He was 96.
The Longs began supporting what is now UT Health San Antonio in 1999 with scholarships for South Texas medical students, many of them the first in their families to attend college. The university says more than 444 Long Scholars have been supported across medicine, nursing, physician assistant studies, biomedical science and the MD/PhD program. Teresa Lozano Long died in 2021.
“Their greatest legacy will always be the lives they changed,” said Dr. Francisco Cigarroa, interim dean of the medical school. Cigarroa led the Health Science Center from 2000 to 2009 and later served as UT System chancellor.
Long was born in San Antonio in 1930 and grew up in small Texas towns. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin in 1951, he served in the Army during the Korean War, then earned a law degree. He later led First State Bank of Austin as chairman and CEO from 1989 until its sale in 1998. The Longs made Austin their home and helped fund the Long Center for the Performing Arts there. The Austin American-Statesman reports their gifts to Texas nonprofits and universities topped $150 million.
Their giving to UT Health San Antonio passed $70 million by 2021, including two $25 million gifts, in 2008 and 2017.
In 2018, the Longs received the Regents’ Santa Rita Award, the UT System’s highest honor, recognizing their service and contributions to the advancement of The University of Texas System.
