In Memoriam: Charles B. Mullins
Charles Brown Mullins, M.D., a cardiologist whose quiet authority and administrative vision helped shape modern academic medicine in Texas for more than half a century, died on Dec. 4, 2025, in Austin. He was 91.
His career spanned bedside medicine, biomedical research, hospital leadership and statewide health policy, but those who knew him best said his deepest pride lay not in titles or achievements, but in his family and the values of service, discipline and humility that guided his life.
Dr. Mullins served as chief executive of Parkland Memorial Hospital, executive vice chancellor for health affairs of the University of Texas System, and a longtime leader at UT Southwestern Medical School, where he was known equally for clinical excellence and for mentoring generations of physicians. A cardiologist by training, he approached both medicine and leadership with what colleagues often described as a steady hand and an unyielding commitment to patients.
He was born on July 29, 1934, in Rochester, Indiana, to Mary and Charles Mullins, and was raised in Poteet, Texas, where he learned the values of hard work, directness and personal responsibility. Friends and colleagues noted that even at the height of his influence, he preferred understatement to self-promotion and saw leadership as a form of stewardship. It was there that he met his future wife, Stella Churchill, while attending high school together.
Dr. Mullins earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas in Denton in 1954. He received his medical degree from UT Southwestern in 1958 and then completed an internship at the University of Colorado Medical Center. He then joined the U.S. Air Force as a flight surgeon and was stationed in Hawaii from 1958 to 1962. Returning to Dallas, he completed his internal medicine residency training at UT Southwestern, where he established himself as a rising leader in cardiology. In 1967, he was recruited to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, as a Special Research Fellow at the National Heart Institute, broadening his influence in cardiovascular research.
Back in Dallas, Dr. Mullins directed clinical cardiology and the cardiac catheterization laboratory at Parkland Memorial Hospital. His calm demeanor and deep clinical knowledge made him a trusted figure among both physicians and hospital administrators. That trust ultimately led to his appointment as chief executive of Parkland, where he oversaw a transformative bond initiative that funded major hospital improvements and strengthened the institution’s role as a safety-net hospital.
In 1981, Dr. Mullins was named executive vice chancellor for health affairs for the University of Texas System, a role he held for two decades. From that position, he helped guide medical education, research and health-care delivery across the state, while also serving on multiple boards and statewide task forces, including those advising the Texas governor on health care and cancer policy.
Even after stepping back from systemwide leadership, he remained deeply connected to teaching and research. In 1996, he was appointed to the J. Fred Schoellkopf Jr. Chair in Cardiology at UT Southwestern, commuting from Austin to Dallas to teach, mentor and support cardiology research throughout the UT System. He was named the Ashbel Smith Professor in 2004 and, in 2005, Professor Emeritus of Internal Medicine.
For 57 years he was married to Stella Churchill Mullins, the former president and CEO of Mental Health America of Texas, until her death in 2012. He is survived by his daughter, Holly Mullins Vinella, and her husband, Greg Vinella; his son, Dr. David Mullins, and his wife, Dr. Rhonda Mullins; four grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.