University Of Alabama At Birmingham:

Press release from the University of Alabama at Birmingham:

October 28, 2021

Photography: Tyler Bryant

Photography: Tyler Bryant

Photography: Tyler Bryant 

Photography: Tyler Bryant 

Photography: UAB Athletics 

Photography: UAB Athletics

Photography: Tyler Bryant 

The University of Alabama at Birmingham was changed forever by a generous $95 million gift from Marnix E. Heersink, M.D., and his wife, Mary Heersink. The gift, made in September 2021, was the single largest philanthropic commitment the university has ever received. This gift provides support with both endowed and outright funds for key initiatives of the newly named UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine, and will help UAB impact lives here in Alabama and around the world.

Three generations of Heersinks were honored on the field during UAB’s Homecoming Football game against Rice University. UAB President Ray L. Watts and Senior Vice President and Heersink School of Medicine Dean Selwyn Vickers, M.D., presented custom UAB Football jerseys to the family to commemorate the partnership.

Heersink, a renowned eye surgeon, innovator, and entrepreneur, desires his gift to inspire and catalyze additional philanthropic contributions that support high-impact recruitments, programs and research in the School of Medicine. In addition to naming the School of Medicine, the gift establishes and names the Marnix E. Heersink Institute of Biomedical Innovation and the Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health.

This press release was produced by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The views expressed here are the author’s own.