TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | m a r c h 2 0 1 5 19 patients to come in, so when they park they'll be very close to the campus and hospitals,'" he said. "I think it was misguided, but I understand." Outcry from alumni and faculty members, however, was fierce. "Just about every physician in Texas at that time had gone to UTMB. There were only two medical schools in the state— UTMB and Baylor," said Wooten. "The vast majority had gone to UTMB and took classes in Old Red, so it was like taking a part of their identity, part of their heart." Goldman echoed those sen- timents from the faculty point of view. "That building held a sort of spirit to the faculty who helped educate in it," he said. "Our species is very interested in sym- bols. For UTMB, Old Red was the principal symbol and they felt they couldn't do without it." Through aggressive fundrais- ing, the building was saved and went through extensive renova- tions in the 1980s, costing a total of $6.4 million. The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the Institute for the Medical Humanities were moved into the building, which was rededicated in April of 1986. The Institute for the Medical Humanities was first in the U.S. to offer a Ph.D. degree in medical humanities. Wooten later earned her Ph.D.—taking classes in Old Red—and wrote a book about the building's history. "You're going up this huge cedar staircase. It has all the creaks and everything of an ancient staircase. You're going in these halls that are huge, high-ceilinged, and when you shut the door it reverber- ates—'boom'. All of that gave this sense of history to it. You are in a place where so many other people have been." Thanks to the efforts to save it, Old Red is now a part of UTMB's future, one that contin- ues the legacy of research set into motion by Leake. In 2003, the National Institutes of Health selected UTMB as the site of the Galveston National Laboratory, one of two such laboratories in the United States. It contains Biosafety Level 4 laborato- ries, where researchers study naturally occurring diseases like SARS, West Nile, and Ebola, as well as countermeasures for microbes that could potentially be used in bioterrorism. In 2008, UTMB was again devastated by a storm: Hurricane Ike. The storm surge flooded the ground floors of buildings throughout campus, and the amount in damages was astronomical. But again, "The University of Texas stops for no storm." After almost seven years and $1 billion in repairs and improvements, the campus is thriving once more. A new hospital is under construction, the Jennie Sealy Hospital. Located on the site of the recently demolished Jennie Sealy Building and old Shriners building, it will contain 310 patient rooms and 20 operating suites. The $438-million facility is expected to be completed later in 2015 and operational in 2016. UTMB recently began operating the Angleton Danbury Medical Center, and will open another hospital and emergency depart- ment at its League City location. UTMB, which will celebrate its 125th anniversary in 2016, has been home to many firsts for the state of Texas—the first university-affiliated nursing school in the U.S. in 1896, the first female physician to grad- uate in 1897, the first African- American physician to graduate in 1953, the first school of health professions in the state. Even as the institution looks forward to a future of more innovation and discovery, it remains dedicated to its legacy and storied past. "We're proud of our legacy," said UTMB president David L. Callender, M.D. "We honor our long history of accomplishment and service by staying focused on the future. The future of health care lies in the hands of people like our researchers, clini- cians and educators. Texans are proud of our heritage and UTMB is an integral part of our state's medical history and future." "You really don't know who you are unless you know where you've been and where you've come from," added Wooten. "It was all about the patient…All the compassion, empathy, research and burning the night oil was to make this profession an altruis- tic profession." That mission of bettering the health of society remains a constant, from UTMB's humble beginnings in that single red building, to the busy, vibrant campus it is today. As of 2014 UTMB has conferred over 38,000 DEGREES AND CERTIFICATES We honor our long history of accom- plishment and service by staying focused on the future. — DAVID L. CALLENDER, M.D. President of The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

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