The Texas State Senate recently honored former UT Southwestern President Dr. Kern Wildenthal with a resolution lauding his long commitment to the medical center.

Authored by State Sen. Florence Shapiro of Plano and co-sponsored by six of her colleagues, Dr. Wildenthal, now president of Southwestern Medical Foundation, was cited for his 22 years as a leader, an educator, a researcher and a philanthropist. The resolution noted that he had overseen the growth of the medical center’s annual operating budget from $184 million to more than $1.4 billion while the physical plant more than tripled in size from 2.5 million square feet to almost 9 million square feet of space on land that has increased from 65 acres to more than 300 acres.

Sen. Shapiro also noted the four Nobel Prize winners active on the UT Southwestern faculty during Dr. Wildenthal’s tenure, the most of any medical school in the world. He has been a visiting professor in more than 20 countries and has authored 130 scientific papers in basic research and clinical cardiology and was a 2008 inductee into the Texas Business Hall of Fame.

Co-sponsoring the resolution with Sen. Shapiro were Sen. John Carona, Dallas; Sen. Bob Deuell, Mesquite; Sen. Chris Harris, Arlington; Sen. Jane Nelson, Flower Mound; Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, El Paso; and Sen. Royce West, Dallas.

The Texas House of Representatives has also honored Dr. Wildenthal this session with a resolution sponsored by Rep. Dan Branch of Dallas.