Baylor College of Medicine receives $51 million for Cullen Tower
Ever since Baylor College of Medicine unveiled plans for the Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower in 2023, multimillion dollar gifts from pillars of Houston's philanthropic community have poured in. Now, the private medical school is just $1 million short of its $150 million goal for the project.
Baylor announced a trio of charitable contributions on Monday including $25 million the Brown Foundation, $16 million from the DeBakey Medical Foundation and $10 million from the Sarofim Foundation. The DeBakey Medical Foundation previously committed $12 million; the Sarofim Foundation's recent gift will match a $10 million previously committed by Fayez Sarofim, who died in 2022.
The 11-story, 503,000-square-foot education building near Cambridge and Old Spanish Trail marks the first phase of Baylor's Health Sciences Park. The Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower will become the future home of the School of Medicine and School of Health Professions.
To honor the DeBakey Medical Foundation's increased investment, and additional funding to the DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor's Health Sciences Park will be renamed the Michael E. DeBakey Health Sciences Park. The area will encompass the new Cullen Tower, a future research tower, the Commons building connecting the two, and the existing Jamail Specialty Care Center clinical building.
A lead gift of $30 million from the Cullen Foundation, Cullen Trust for Health Care and Cullen Trust for Higher Education launched construction efforts in June 2023.
Upon completion in 2026, the 800,000-square-foot project will integrate medical education and research next to Baylor Medicine and Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center on the McNair Campus, which is adjacent to Texas Medical Center's 37-acre Helix Park, a hub for healthcare, life sciences and business.
"Thanks to tremendous support from the community, we have raised almost $150 million in philanthropy for the new state-of-the-art home for the School of Medicine and School of Health Professions. Cullen Tower isn't just an investment in infrastructure, but an investment in the health and well-being of future generations," said Dr. Paul Klotman, Baylor president, CEO and executive dean, in a statement.
