Tomorrow, long before sunrise, we will begin again

Graduating class of 2018 from the Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine.

For the United States, 1968 was a year of moments, high and low, that changed the world. The triumphs of the first 747 jumbo jet and of the first manned space mission to orbit the moon were tragically darkened by the assassinations of two visionaries, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.

In San Antonio, the year witnessed the dedications of two of the community’s most far-reaching prizes, The University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio, now named the UT Health San Antonio Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, and the Bexar County Teaching Hospital, now called University Hospital. Today, as I think about the transformational events that have shaped our institution over the past 50 years, what has remained as a constant thread in this story has been the inspiring voice of promise and possibility.

It is the promise of this burgeoning, bustling-with-life, beacon-of-hope university that propels us forward and gives wings to all that we can imagine—to a future that could be.

It is the promise of this place that lifts burdens and relieves suffering. It is the promise of an always brighter tomorrow, despite frailty and the limitations of the human condition. A place of possibility, UT Health San Antonio has embraced learning and discovery, healing and serving, every single day since its dawning.

With this issue, we celebrate 50 years of dreams, toils and striving. Fifty years of promise that have given our community 35,800 graduates and the creation of the Palmaz stent, listed among the top 10 patents that changed the world. These five decades have resulted in today’s university community, comprised of a workforce of 6,627 faculty and staff, a student body of 3,270 and 915 residents and post-graduate trainees. 

Ours is a mission that blends the forces of mind, heart and vision for one purpose: to find answers that will lead to hope and powerful new pathways to make lives better.

Yet even as we celebrate achievements, we can never be complacent, never be satisfied that we have done all we can to fulfill our role of instigator of promise. For tomorrow, long before sunrise, we will begin again. We will re-commit to moving forward, poised on the shoulders of all those who have preceded us over these 50 years—and all of you who support us through your passion and compassion, without fail.

As we continue to evolve, we thank you for your confidence and pride.