Frank Denius is one of the 10 most highly decorated veterans of World War II, earning four Silver Stars and two Purple Hearts among other awards and recognition for his leadership in the European Theater and the D-Day invasion. He is also an alumnus and beloved supporter of The University of Texas at Austin. As an individual and through his family’s foundation, The Cain Foundation, his generosity has reached every corner of the Forty Acres, including the new Dell Medical School.

For many, the story of a new medical school at The University of Texas at Austin began with the passage of Proposition 1 in 2012. But Frank Denius would tell you the story really began in the late 1950s.

At the time, statewide discussions about a new medical school began buzzing around Central Texas. As a recent veteran and young attorney, Denius served on a task force commissioned by Mayor Tom Miller. The committee was charged with making a case for Austin to be chosen as the home for a new medical school. After much discussion, the decision was ultimately made to establish The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in 1959. Although the dream of a medical school at UT Austin was put on hold, Denius remained determined and hopeful.

“Since that time, I made sure to put in a word to administrators, legislators, and governors that we needed a medical school at UT,” Denius said. “It’s never left my panoramic view of the university.”

Fast-forward to 2011.

When plans for a medical school at UT Austin began to take shape, the Board of Regents approved the establishment of the Frank and Charmaine Denius Distinguished Dean’s Chair in Medical Leadership. The chair was endowed by a generous gift from the Cain Foundation, for which Denius serves as president. In 2014, the endowment was transferred from the President’s Office to the Dell Medical School. To date, it is the only formally designated Distinguished University Chair at The University of Texas at Austin.

This gift will ensure the inaugural dean and future deans have a strong basis to support the Dell Medical School’s vision and further its mission. To that end, the endowment serves as a discretionary fund for the dean to support recruitment, travel, programs, and the overall advancement of medical education and research.

“The University of Texas is a very prestigious, high-profile university not only in Texas, or even the nation, but in the world,” Denius said. “We want to accomplish the same thing for our medical school.”

For Denius, the medical school presents an opportunity to prepare 21st-century physicians to promote good health and personal responsibility while delivering first-rate medical research and medical care at a reasonable cost. Moreover, given the current and projected growth of Travis County, he believes community interest and engagement will help drive research and promote innovative models of care.

The hope in this kind of health care transformation has led Denius and The Cain Foundation to give to other research and medical facilities throughout Texas. Now that the Dell Medical School in Austin has finally become a reality after more than half a century, Denius is fully committed to seeing that it succeeds.

“I’m hoping all our medical schools, but especially the medical school at Texas, will become a part of the total medical research that rises in and out of Texas,” he said.

With the dedicated and generous support of Frank Denius, after more than 50 years, the next chapter of the Dell Medical School is finally beginning.

Published May 2018