IN MEMORIAM
William L. Henrich, MD, MACP, who served as university president from 2009 to 2024, died March 14, 2024. He was 77.
In his 15 years as president, Henrich transformed UT Health San Antonio into a top-ranked academic health center.
He presided over the greatest period of expansion in the institution’s 65-year history, punctuated by $1 billion in ongoing construction projects that will change the city’s health care and life sciences research landscape. A board-certified and fellowship-trained nephrologist, Henrich served as dean of the health science center’s Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine from 2006 until 2009, when The University of Texas System Board of Regents appointed him president.
Dedicated to preserving the core missions of health care education and biomedical research during uncertain economic climates such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Henrich consistently led the charge to augment the institution’s clinical practices. The number of patient visits to all the institution’s clinical practices, which includes UT Health Physicians and UT Dentistry, exceeds 2.6 million annually.
Meanwhile, he worked to increase the institution’s research footprint and impact. UT Health San Antonio is the largest academic research institution in South Texas and is a primary driver of San Antonio’s $44.1 billion health care and biosciences sector.
The academic mission, so vital in training tomorrow’s health care providers and researchers, was especially important to Henrich. He steered the creation of The University of Texas School of Public Health San Antonio, the institution’s sixth school, initiated in collaboration with The University of Texas at San Antonio.
Speaking in April 2023, Henrich described the uniqueness and mission of the health science center.
“Our mission is to make lives better. That mission compels us to not allow ourselves to get fatigued, because what’s at stake is a human life. Many human lives. That’s why what we do comes from our hearts. That’s why we can’t allow ourselves to quit. If not us, then who will do it? People are depending on us.”
Henrich is survived by his wife, Mary, their two children and their five grandchildren.