An Evening of Promise

Annual gala honors Frost family legacy

The 2014 President’s Gala honored longtime Health Science Center supporters Patricia and Tom Frost, who stand with Health Science Center President William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, and his wife, Mary.

The link between Patricia and Tom Frost and the Health Science Center was forged in 1959, when the Texas Legislature signed House Bill 9 to create the Long School of Medicine that now sits in the heart of the San Antonio Medical Center.

But the Frosts never imagined it would become what it is today.

“It’s been an important thing in my life [to experience] how well it’s been done,” said Tom Frost, emeritus member of the Health Science Center’s Development Board. “It’s marvelous. We never dreamt it would be anything like what we have now. The level of medical care in this community is many times greater today than it was before the university came.”

The Frosts, known for their longtime support for the economic growth of San Antonio, were honored at the 2014 President’s Gala held Sept. 13. The event, called An Evening of Promise, will establish the Tom C. and Patricia H. Frost Endowment to Advance Cancer Research and Education with proceeds of $500,000 raised through community support. The endowment will go toward student scholarships and fellowships, and cancer research.

It was the Frosts’ faith in the future and their willingness to accept risk that helped launch the Health Science Center into the epicenter for education, research and healing it is today, said Health Science Center President William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP.

“In one way or another, directly or indirectly, we have all been touched by the countless efforts of Tom and Patricia Frost’s generosity and service to San Antonio, to our region, to our state and to our country,” Dr. Henrich said.

“When Tom and leaders of San Antonio inaugurated these new medical efforts, they made a pledge to the city to give their best efforts to improve health care, foster research and light the lamp of education.”

Tom Frost, chairman emeritus of Frost Bank, is the fourth generation of his family to oversee the bank founded by his great grandfather, Col. T.C. Frost, in 1898. The Frost family continues to build on a legacy of philanthropy that spans generations, said Bartell Zachry, honorary chair of the gala.

“No team has done more than the team of Pat and Tom Frost,” he said. “Their nurturing support since [the Health Science Center’s] beginning has touched so many lives. It is important that they be recognized for what they have accomplished, but especially for the example they have set for all of us in all they have done for so many years that makes possible the dynamic, grand and extraordinary lifesaving resource and life-changing resource that is the Health Science Center of San Antonio.”

More than four decades ago, Frost led efforts to establish the Cancer Therapy & Research Center and was named its first honorary trustee. The CTRC, which just marked its 40th anniversary, has become one of the elite academic cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center.

“This generous support by the Frost family and countless other members of our community will allow us to continue to provide compassionate treatment for all of our patients while our research team seeks to improve treatment and understand cancer with the goal of preventing it,” Dr. Henrich said.