Penn State and UT Austin Receive Historic Philanthropic Gifts Totaling $150 Million

Two major American universities are celebrating transformative donations that will reshape their health care and academic missions. Penn State Health received a $50 million contribution from philanthropist Tom Golisano, while the University of Texas at Austin secured a $100 million gift from Austin residents Tench and Simone Coxe.

Penn State's Golisano Children's Hospital Gift

The $50 million donation from Tom Golisano will name Penn State Health's Children's Hospital and support its expansion as a cutting-edge pediatric care center. The contribution represents a significant milestone for the institution, as it marks the largest single philanthropic gift to Penn State Health since 1963, when the M.S. Hershey Foundation provided $50 million to establish Penn State College of Medicine and Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

The newly designated facility will join a broader network of pediatric institutions. Penn State Health Golisano Children's Hospital at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center will connect with nine other leading institutions across the country as part of the Golisano Children's Alliance. This collaborative network aims to share resources and expand access to essential pediatric care throughout the region.

Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi emphasized the impact of this donation on the university's health mission. The gift will enhance pediatric care, research, and community outreach across central Pennsylvania. Located on the Hershey campus, the Children's Hospital serves as the most comprehensive pediatric facility between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, featuring the region's only Level IV neonatal intensive care unit and Level I pediatric trauma center.

Golisano, founder of Paychex Inc., has built a reputation for supporting children's hospitals nationwide. The Golisano Foundation announced donations to six children's hospitals, with four facilities receiving $50 million each and two receiving $25 million and $3 million respectively. These contributions are part of creating the Golisano Children's Alliance, designed to strengthen pediatric health care across multiple states.

University of Texas at Austin Medical Center Initiative

Meanwhile, the University of Texas at Austin is advancing its plans for a world-class academic medical center with substantial backing from local philanthropists. Tench and Simone Coxe pledged $100 million to support the university's emerging medical center, one of the largest gifts in UT Austin's history.

The donation will support a comprehensive health care initiative that integrates multiple components of the university's medical infrastructure. The new UT medical center will combine the university's research enterprise, Dell Medical School, and UT MD Anderson cancer care into a digitally enabled, patient-centered academic health system serving Central Texas.

Tench Coxe, whose venture capital career included early investments in companies like Nvidia, brought a strategic perspective to the gift. He now serves on Nvidia's board of directors. Tench Coxe expressed confidence in UT's senior vice president for medical affairs and dean of Dell Medical School, Claudia Lucchinetti, citing her vision as a key factor in their decision to invest.

The couple's motivation stemmed from personal observations of health care gaps in the region. They noted that some patients were forced to travel to Houston for specialized treatments that should have been available locally. Their unrestricted donation provides flexibility for university leaders to allocate resources to areas of greatest need, including clinician recruitment, construction, technology investments, and community health programs.

The $2.5 billion University of Texas Austin Medical Center is expected to break ground in 2026 and is projected to open in 2030. The facility will include a new UT hospital focused on complex and serious conditions, along with an expansion of UT MD Anderson's cancer services in the Austin area.

Impact on Higher Education Philanthropy

These donations reflect a broader trend of major philanthropic investments in university health care infrastructure. Both gifts emphasize the importance of academic medical centers in serving their communities while advancing research and education missions.

The Penn State gift comes as the university prepares to launch a new fundraising campaign in 2026, with a particular focus on health initiatives across the commonwealth. Similarly, the UT Austin contribution supports the university's goal of becoming what it calls the world's highest-impact public research university.

Both institutions hope these high-profile donations will inspire additional contributions from other supporters. The Coxes initially considered remaining anonymous but decided to publicize their gift to encourage others to join the effort. This approach to philanthropy demonstrates how major donors can catalyze broader support for ambitious institutional projects.

As these two universities move forward with their expanded health care missions, they join a growing number of academic institutions investing heavily in medical research and patient care infrastructure. The success of these initiatives will likely influence how other universities approach similar expansions in the coming years.