UT Southwestern Kicks Off 75th Anniversary

UT Southwestern has launched the yearlong recognition of its 75 years of compassionate patient care, leading-edge discovery, and exceptional education and training. Here’s how you can celebrate.

The signs are all around us. UT Southwestern has launched the yearlong recognition of its 75 years of compassionate patient care, leading-edge discovery, and exceptional education and training.

75th anniversary pole banners adorn a major entryway onto North Campus.

Banners on campus light poles, on the side of the UT Southwestern School of Health Professions building, and at other locations are touting the anniversary milestone, calling out the Medical Center’s commitment to healing, discovery, and education with messages such as “The future of medicine – 75 years.” Billboards have also been unveiled in the Southwestern Medical District, commending “A Legacy of Excellence.”

A website dedicated to anniversary stories, videos, and photos is also live at 75.utsouthwestern.edu, providing a one-stop location for all things 75^th anniversary, as well as a growing list of bigger events to come.

“This marks an exciting moment and significant milestone in UT Southwestern’s illustrious history,” said Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, President of UT Southwestern. “Throughout the year, we will celebrate the foundational moments that have made it possible for us to transform medicine in today’s environment, when scientific knowledge and medical innovation are expanding exponentially.”

To read Dr. Podolsky’s full message to the campus about our anniversary celebration, click here.

Founded in May 1943 as Southwestern Medical College, UT Southwestern has expanded beyond its original focus on medical education to become an expansive institution that now reaches beyond Dallas and includes hospital- and clinic-based patient care, biomedical research, and two additional degree-granting schools: the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Health Professions.

Anniversary-year events will honor UT Southwestern’s milestone moments, recognize the many UT Southwestern contributions that have changed the course of science and medicine, and look ahead to a robust future. Besides the billboards and signs heralding this celebration, faculty, employees, and students will be given buttons and badge reels with the signature anniversary logo to wear throughout the year. Later this spring, faculty and employees will receive an anniversary T-shirt.

Workers piece together a 95-foot-tall building wrap on the School of Health Professions.

In the coming months, UT Southwestern will celebrate the accomplishments of the first – and the promise of the next – 75 years with events big and small. In May, an official campus celebration will take place on Seldin Plaza. The anniversary year will conclude with a two-day signature event in late fall: The first day, UT Southwestern friends, faculty, and staff will be invited to a future-focused evening program, followed by a hands-on, science-based experience. The next day, we will invite families and children of all ages to experience a UT Southwestern version of the future of academic medicine.

Every department is encouraged to integrate the 75th anniversary into its 2018 planning by weaving the anniversary into existing programs and events, or by creating something unique.

There are many ways to be part of the celebration. No matter where you are, you can visit 75.utsouthwestern.edu to learn about the connections between the discoveries of yesterday and tomorrow’s breakthroughs. New stories and videos will be posted throughout the year. We hope that you will share your own memories of UT Southwestern on our website or on social media (#UTSW75). If you’re an alumnus, you can reconnect with our new email newsletters and at anniversary events across Texas. To get involved or learn more about anniversary activities, contact 75years@utsouthwestern.edu.

UT Southwestern has had a major impact on science and medicine through education, research, and patient care over the past 75 years. So, whether you’re on campus, in North Texas, or halfway around the world, we hope you’ll join us in celebrating 75 years of the future of medicine, today.