UT Southwestern mourns loss of W.A. “Tex” Moncrief Jr., whose generosity extended academic medical care and research through generations
DALLAS – Dec. 30, 2021 – W.A. “Tex” Moncrief Jr., whose extraordinary generosity has and will benefit many generations of Texans by expanding UT Southwestern Medical Center programs in Dallas and especially Fort Worth, as well as surrounding communities, died Dec. 28 at age 101.
Tex Moncrief and the Moncrief family, longtime supporters of academic medicine, helped facilitate the expansion of cancer care services through the Moncrief Cancer Institute in Fort Worth, more than a dozen primary and specialty services at the Monty and Tex Moncrief Medical Center at Fort Worth, as well as brain cancer research through generous philanthropy that began in the 1960s.
“W.A. “Tex” Moncrief Jr. was passionate in wanting to ensure that the communities of Fort Worth and North Texas more broadly had access to outstanding health care. There was never an individual more decisive in pursuing his passion. His vision and remarkable generosity – always in honor of his admired father – has enabled UT Southwestern to serve legions of those in need. In planning the Moncrief Cancer Institute and the UT Southwestern Monty and Tex Moncrief Medical Center at Fort Worth, he was determined that they not only provided facilities enabling access to medical expertise but lifted the spirits of those in need of help,” said Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D., President of UT Southwestern Medical Center.
In 2017, UT Southwestern dedicated the Monty and Tex Moncrief Medical Center at Fort Worth, providing access to more than a dozen areas of specialty care from cardiology to neurology in the heart of Fort Worth’s Medical District. The three-story, 110,000-square-foot multidisciplinary outpatient facility, which was UT Southwestern’s first named campus outside of Dallas, complements UT Southwestern’s cancer presence at the neighboring Moncrief Cancer Institute. The precursor to the Institute, Moncrief Radiation Center, was started by W. A. Moncrief in 1958 when his son, Tex Moncrief, lost his 8-year-old daughter to leukemia. The Moncrief Cancer Institute’s mission is to make cancer prevention, patient treatment, clinical trials, and a variety of cancer-related research more accessible to Fort Worth-area citizens.
“My family has been touched by cancer and we therefore take the fight against cancer very personally and very seriously. We want to defeat this horrible disease while in the meantime ensuring our community has every resource necessary to offer the best cancer care and treatment for our fellow citizens,” Tex Moncrief said during dedication ceremonies for the Moncrief Cancer Institute.
Over the years, the Moncrief family also has contributed nearly $14 million from the William A. and Elizabeth B. Moncrief Foundation and from Tex Moncrief in direct support of UT Southwestern programs and facilities on its Dallas campus, including the W.A. Monty & Tex Moncrief Radiation Oncology Building. In 2003, Tex and Deborah Moncrief contributed $7.5 million to UT Southwestern’s Innovations in Medicine campaign for the Moncrief Radiation Oncology Center in Dallas to complement the UT Southwestern Moncrief Radiation Center in Fort Worth, housing state-of-the-art radiation therapy and research equipment. This is in addition to the $75 million given to the Moncrief Cancer Foundation to support the UT Southwestern Moncrief Cancer Institute.
Thanks to gifts totaling $3.2 million from Tex Moncrief and affiliated family foundations, a collaborative research team at UT Southwestern’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center is testing new therapies that offer hope to those diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. That gift, made in honor of Tex’s late son, Charlie, initiated the Charlie Moncrief Glioblastoma Mouse Program to find better treatments and to improve survival rates for patients with glioblastoma.
“Our family is committed to making a significant positive impact in the world around us, and we are confident our gift to UT Southwestern can make a profound difference in the way glioblastoma is treated in the future,” Tex Moncrief said at the time.
W.A. “Tex” Moncrief Jr. was born on March 27, 1920, the son of William Alvin and Elizabeth Bright Moncrief. He graduated from the Culver Military Academy in 1937, and from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1942. After working as an engineer in the East Texas oil fields, he received a commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve and was trained at Harvard as a communications officer before serving in the Pacific. After the war, he returned to Fort Worth and went into the oil business with his father. It was Tex Moncrief who made huge discoveries of natural gas in Wyoming, as well as major discoveries on the Gulf coast, in Texas and Louisiana.
In 1983, he was honored as a Distinguished Engineering Graduate by UT Austin, to which he provided support ranging from athletics to computer labs. In 1987, he was appointed to a six-year term on the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System by then-Gov. William P. Clements Jr., for whom UT Southwestern’s hospital is named. He was named to the Texas Philanthropy Hall of Fame in 2001 and was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus by the University of Texas Exes in 2008.
“Tex Moncrief leaves an indelible imprint on North Texas through his generosity of spirit,” said Dr. Podolsky.
About UT Southwestern Medical Center
UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution’s faculty has received six Nobel Prizes and includes 25 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 16 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 14 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of more than 2,800 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide care in about 80 specialties to more than 117,000 hospitalized patients, more than 360,000 emergency room cases, and oversee nearly 3 million outpatient visits a year.