UH College of Nursing Renamed in Honor of Alumnus Who Donated $20 Million to Program Due to Healthcare Labor Shortage
HOUSTON – The University of Houston received a $20 million gift from a notable alumnus last week.
In a press release, UH said the transformation money was provided by Andy Gessner and his wife Barbara to “help strengthen the nursing workforce amid a significant labor shortage in the profession.”
The announcement was made during National Nurses Week and is expected to “strengthen nursing education and research, fund scholarships and fellowships for students, and ultimately increase the number of highly educated nurses in the workforce.”
The college has since been renamed the Andy and Barbara Gessner College of Nursing.
“We believe in nurses and need more of them right now,” said Andy Gessner (BBA ’68). “We will all need a nurse at some point in our lives and there is not enough workforce or training for the future. The primary intent of our gift is to make more nurses available when we need them, now and in the future.”
“The silver tsunami is coming,” said Barbara Gessner. “We will certainly need more nurses as the population ages, so the medical profession will be challenged. It has always been an honorable profession and we believe in the tender and compassionate care that nurses provide.
To learn more about their donation, visit UH.edu.
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