The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio) announced today that Be Bold: A Campaign for Our Future has achieved a final total of $575 million raised, culminating with a $5 million closing gift from the Malú and Carlos Alvarez Family.
The gift, announced at a campaign celebration dinner on Oct. 2, will establish the Carlos Alvarez Distinguished Presidential Chair, an endowment to support UT San Antonio’s highest level of leadership and ensure strong university governance for decades to come.
“Carlos Alvarez was one of the most generous and influential philanthropic champions in the history of our university,” said UT San Antonio President Taylor Eighmy. “With this presidential chair, the Alvarez family is not only extending his legacy of visionary leadership but also paving a pathway of success that will sustain and strengthen the institution he believed in so deeply. We are deeply grateful to Malú and the entire Alvarez family for choosing to close the campaign in such a powerful and purposeful way. I am deeply honored to be the first recipient.”
Launched in 2017, the Be Bold campaign is the largest fundraising initiative in the history of UT San Antonio’s legacy institution, UTSA. Designed to accelerate student success, advance research excellence and expand community impact, the campaign surpassed its $500 million goal two years ahead of its original timeline.
“We are deeply grateful to Malú and the entire Alvarez family for choosing to close the campaign in such a powerful and purposeful way.” — Taylor Eighmy
UT Health San Antonio also has a proven record of success with several fundraising campaigns. As a unified institution, UT San Antonio brings together two highly engaged philanthropic communities.
The Alvarez family has contributed to UT San Antonio for three decades, impacting a wide range of areas that bridge the fields of education and medicine.
The comprehensive impact of their philanthropy toward UT San Antonio’s legacy institutions has benefitted thousands of students by supporting undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, student success programs, research, endowed positions and health centers.
In 2021, their $20 million gift to advance research-enhancing activities led to the naming of the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, the first named college in the history of the university and the first business college in The University of Texas System to be named after a Latino.
The Alvarez family also invested in UT Health San Antonio to establish the Malú & Carlos Alvarez Center for Transplantation and the Malú & Carlos Alvarez Distinguished Chair in Transplant Surgery, held by senior executive vice president for health affairs and health system, Francisco Cigarroa, MD.
“Carlos always believed that UT San Antonio was essential to the economic, cultural and social growth of this city,” said John Brozovich, Carlos and Malú Alvarez’s son-in-law. “This gift reflects his vision and our family’s ongoing commitment to the university he loved. Establishing a presidential chair is a way to ensure that bold leadership endures at the highest levels of the institution.”
Karl Miller-Lugo, senior vice president for Advancement and Alumni Engagement at UT San Antonio, noted the symbolism of closing the campaign with the Alvarez family’s support.
“Throughout his life, Carlos Alvarez invested in people and ideas that could transform San Antonio,” Miller-Lugo said. “His family’s decision to complete the Be Bold campaign with this gift demonstrates once again their belief in the power of higher education to drive opportunity, innovation and community strength.”
Highlights of the Be Bold campaign include:
- $575 million raised by over 60,000 donors
- More than $225 million raised for groundbreaking research
- More than $40 million raised for faculty support, including the creation of 20 new endowed faculty positions
- 139 new endowed scholarships and fellowships created
- More than $38 million raised for the arts
- 31 capital improvement projects to support learning, research and student life
- More than $56 million raised for UTSA Athletics through the Bold Champions campaign
- More than 110,000 alumni engaged with the university by mentoring students, attending events, supporting athletics, giving generously and more.
As UT San Antonio enters its next chapter, the conclusion of the Be Bold campaign underscores the strength of its community and the enduring influence of leaders like Carlos Alvarez.
The Carlos Alvarez Distinguished Presidential Chair will stand as both a tribute to his vision and a catalyst for the bold leadership that will define the university’s future.
