A new planned gift from Dr. Kern and Marnie Wildenthal will provide endowed support in perpetuity for the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College at The University of Texas at Dallas.
Kern Wildenthal, president emeritus of UT Southwestern Medical Center and past president and consultant at Children’s Medical Center Foundation, is the brother of Dr. Hobson Wildenthal, currently distinguished scholar in residence at UT Dallas, for whom the Honors College was named in 2017.
Renowned for his work in theoretical nuclear physics, Hobson Wildenthal served as the chief academic officer of UT Dallas from 1992 to 2017. A champion of academic excellence, he was instrumental in adopting a core curriculum that addresses key components of undergraduate education when the University was just beginning to admit freshmen and sophomores in the early 1990s. His vision and leadership helped steer the University on a path of continual growth and improvement, allowing UT Dallas to emerge as a leading public research institution nationwide.
“My brother spent most of his career as a university administrator at UT Dallas and has a special interest in the Honors College,” Kern Wildenthal said. “We wanted to honor him and acknowledge his contributions by making a gift for this program.”
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In addition to their familial connection at UT Dallas, Kern and Marnie Wildenthal are ardent supporters of educational programs in North Texas and around the country. Marnie Wildenthal spent 30 years as a middle school teacher at Episcopal School of Dallas and, since retiring, has volunteered with Literacy Achieves, where she teaches English as a second language.
As president of UT Southwestern for two decades, Kern Wildenthal knows firsthand the value of philanthropic giving and its long-lasting impact on an institution. During his tenure as president from 1986 to 2008, the institution more than quintupled in size, and the medical center’s endowment grew from $40 million to more than $1.3 billion, including the establishment of over 300 new chairs and professorships.
“When you’re making an investment for the future and you are not quite sure when that investment will be realized, you look for organizations that have a solid structure and a certain longevity, something you know will be good for generations,” Marnie Wildenthal said. “Higher education is one of those areas we want to support, and when we see how remarkable UT Dallas is, how much it’s progressed over the past 30 years, it was our obvious choice.”
“Great universities help their best students cultivate excellence across a wide range of activities. This generous donation from Dr. Kern Wildenthal and his wife, Marnie, will further the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College’s ongoing quest for excellence inside and outside the classroom.”
Dr. Edward Harpham, dean of the Honors College
The Hobson Wildenthal Honors College offers world-class academic programs that attract the very best students from around the world. Through small classes, innovative instruction and an array of extracurricular opportunities, top student recruits have special opportunities for personal and professional development. These efforts help bring young scholars to UT Dallas who become leaders in their fields after graduation.
“Great universities help their best students cultivate excellence across a wide range of activities,” said Dr. Edward Harpham, dean of the Honors College. “This generous donation from Dr. Kern Wildenthal and his wife, Marnie, will further the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College’s ongoing quest for excellence inside and outside the classroom.”
Kern and Hobson Wildenthal were themselves raised by educators in the West Texas town of Alpine. Their father was president of Sul Ross College in the 1950s and 1960s, and their mother encouraged a love of art and music.
Hobson Wildenthal, responding to the news of the new gift, remarked, “Kern and Marnie Wildenthal, as individuals and as a couple, are the most admirable two people I have ever known. Our mutual love and respect, of which this generous gift to UT Dallas in my honor is just the most recent manifestation, means the world to me. And, of course, they knew that designating the Honors College as the beneficiary of their philanthropy was the perfect choice, since I have long shared with them my passion to recruit great students to UT Dallas and provide them with the most enriching education possible. We all understand that the defining hallmark of a great university is a great undergraduate student body.”
After a career that included time as president of UT Southwestern, Children’s Medical Center Foundation and Southwestern Medical Foundation, along with tenure as interim president, CEO and board member of the Dallas Opera, Kern Wildenthal understands the importance of planned giving in sustaining an organization’s future. Charitable gift annuities, like the one the Wildenthals have established for UT Dallas, provide tax and income benefits during a donor’s lifetime while benefiting the charity in perpetuity. The couple hopes that others will join them in providing planned gifts to support the University’s excellence.
“Philanthropy is essential for a good institution to become and remain great,” Kern Wildenthal said. “Investments in UT Dallas are certain to produce results that will last for generations.”
Through their philanthropy and years of service to UT Dallas, the Wildenthal families have created a lasting legacy, and this new gift will continue that influence by helping attract high-achieving students and noteworthy faculty to UT Dallas.
“We really like to focus on things that represent the best-in-class,” Marnie Wildenthal said. “Thanks to the inspiring efforts of Hobson and his colleagues over the past quarter-century, UT Dallas has a track record of recruiting the best and brightest. Supporting this mission is very appealing to us.”