Countless future nurses and nurse scientists will benefit from recent gifts to Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston. Two endowments created student scholarship funds, and a third will support high-tech learning in the care of women and children in the Simulation and Clinical Performance Laboratory.

“We are so grateful to these generous supporters who have all had close associations with Cizik School of Nursing over the years,” said Dean Diane Santa Maria, DrPH, MSN, ACRN, PHNA-BC, FSAHM, FAAN. “We are proud to carry on their legacies in ways that will benefit the nursing profession far into the future.”

Evelyn and Paul Howell Family PhD Scholarship

Students pursuing research-focused doctoral degrees will benefit from an endowment honoring the late philanthropists Evelyn and Paul Howell. Their sons, Brad and David Howell, continue the family tradition of supporting health care education and innovation. Brad has served on the UTHealth Houston Development Board since 1993 and is a chair emeritus. His wife, Sara, is a longtime member and past chair of the PARTNERS organization.

Deanne E. Grimes Scholarship for Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Students

Cizik School of Nursing Professor Emerita Deanna E. Grimes, DrPH, RN, FAAN, and her husband Richard Grimes, PhD, taught at UTHealth Houston for decades. A $200 scholarship enabled her to fulfill her dream of becoming a nurse, and the couples’ endowment will give future undergraduate students the same chance.

Helmreich estate gift

Rebecca Jo Helmreich, PhD, PNNP, RN, WHNP-BC, retired in 2021 after teaching at Cizik School of Nursing for almost 20 years. She passed away the following year and left a generous estate gift to the school. In recognition of her commitment to mothers and babies as a pediatric/neonatal and women’s health nurse practitioner, a suite in the simulation lab has been named in her honor.

Learn more about ways to support nursing education and research at Cizik School of Nursing.