TCU medical school to be renamed Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine

(Rendering courtesy TCU School of Medicine)

The TCU School of Medicine will be renamed in honor of the late Anne Burnett Marion, whose philanthropy helped established the medical school.

The school’s name will be Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine in recognition of her generous support, Texas Christian University officials announced.

Marion died in 2020 but her Burnett Foundation continues to support the medical school. Marion’s daughter, Windi Grimes, recently made a second $25 million gift to the Anne W. Marion Endowment, which Marion established before her death to perpetuate support for the medical school’s operations.

“During her lifetime, Anne Marion’s support of the university through her service as a trustee and her philanthropy played a vital role in strengthening TCU’s academic profile and reputation,” TCU Chancellor Victor J.Boschini, Jr. said in a statement. “We are grateful to Anne’s daughter, Windi Grimes, for the honor of establishing this tribute to her mother, marking her indelible contributions to TCU and generations of physician leaders.” The foundation’s contribution of $50 million to the medical school “will have a momentous influence on TCU for the next 150 years,” Boschini said.

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A Fort Worth native, Marion supported many other community causes as well as medical education. Her family’s ties to Fort Worth date back nearly a century and the family had a long history of generosity across the city though the Anne Burnett Tandy and Charles Tandy Foundation, which was renamed the Burnett Foundation.

“Legacy and loyalty have always been Burnett family traits,” Grimes stated “My grandmother’s first foundation gift was to TCU, and it seems fitting that my mother’s last foundation gift goes to support the University as well.

“My mother was inspired by the TCU School of Medicine, and we hope that the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine will provide a profound impact to all those it serves,” Grimes stated.

During her lifetime, Marion donated to nearly every area of the university, culminating with her final gift of $25 million to the medical school, among the most generous gifts in university history, according to TCU officials.

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The medical school, which was created as a partnership between TCU and the University of North Texas Health Science Center, enrolled its first class of students in 2019. This month the school enrolled its fourth class, bringing the school to full enrollment.

TCU and UNTHSC dissolved the partnership in January. UNTHSC continues to operate an osteopathic medical school while TCU operates the allopathic, or MD, school.

TCU is building a new medical school campus at the northeast corner of South Henderson and West Rosedale streets. The four-story building, containing approximately 100,000 square feet, is expected to be completed in fall 2024.