Dells announce $750 million donation to the University of Texas
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Michael Dell and Susan Dell in April. Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
With their latest gift of $750 million, Michael and Susan Dell have now given more than $1 billion to the University of Texas, school officials announced Tuesday.
Why it matters: The donation situates the university — and Austin — to become a leading health research center, drawing new jobs and investment to the region.
- As an employer and donor to local causes, Michael Dell, the founder of computing company Dell, has arguably had a greater economic impact on Austin than anyone in the city's history.
The big picture: UT wants to raise $10 billion in 10 years to boost its medical center into the top 10 nationally.
- The new Dell money will establish a research, computing and medical campus — the UT Dell Campus for Advanced Research — in north Austin, by Braker Lane and just west of MoPac, that will also host the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Flashback: Dell Medical School was established in 2013.
What they're saying: "When you bring together a great research university, a world-class town and a city that knows how to turn ideas into reality, you create the conditions for breakthroughs that change lives," Michael Dell told university faculty and administrators and elected officials at an event Tuesday.
- "What's being built here means world-class research and care that will reach more people, and it will reach them sooner," Susan Dell said, invoking medical care provided by her father, a cancer surgeon.
As the founder of Dell, Michael Dell "redefined how the world buys computers and how it thinks about technology." Gov. Greg Abbott said at the event.
- "Now Dell Medical is doing the same thing with regard to health care. They're doing something that's not just incrementally better, but categorically different."
Context: Michael Dell is worth about $172 billion, per Forbes — or about $20 billion more than he was worth in early December.
- The latest donation from the Dells will also underwrite undergraduate student scholarships, student housing and UT's Texas Advanced Computing Center.
- The residence hall currently known as Dobie Center will be renamed Dell House, per UT officials.
Between the lines: Even as UT is consistently a top-ranked research university, state politics and policies threaten its perch, some faculty have argued.
- Some potential students have ruled out Texas for medical training and faculty have said they would consider leaving over issues ranging from abortion restrictions to questions of academic freedom and tenure security.
Zoom out: The Dells have been on a high-profile giving kick.
- Late last year, the couple pledged one of the largest individual charitable donations in history: a $6.25 billion gift that put $250 in accounts for 25 million U.S. children under 10 years old.
The bottom line: Dell Computer Corporation was born just over 30 years ago in a UT undergraduate dorm room, and the ensuing philanthropic relationship between Michael Dell and his alma mater is the kind university fundraisers dream about — and one that could further transform Austin.