Publicly announced, philanthropic gifts of $100 million are rare in North Texas. But when they do come along, UT Southwestern Medical Center is often involved on the receiving end. It happened again today, when Children’s Health and UT Southwestern announced a gift of $100 million from the family of Jean and the late Mack Pogue to support Children’s new $5 billion pediatric campus.
The gift is the biggest donation yet for the new project, which will replace the existing Children’s Medical Center Dallas with a 2 million-square-foot facility on 33 acres on the grounds of UT Southwestern. To recognize the Pogue family for its gift, the site’s 33 acres will be named Pogue Park and will feature sprawling green spaces designed to support healing in a natural environment.
“For four decades, the Pogue family’s generosity has been instrumental in our ability to deliver exceptional care …” Children’s Health President/CEO Christopher Durovich said in a statement. “Pogue Park will profoundly enhance the patient and family experience in our new Dallas pediatric campus, creating a respite reflective of our mission to make life better for children.”
Children’s and UT Southwestern said the Pogue gift is one of only four $100 million philanthropic gifts ever publicly announced in North Texas. Back in 2009, UT Southwestern was gifted $100 million by the late, former Texas Gov. William P. Clements Jr. In 2019, Southern Methodist University snagged $100 million from the Moody Foundation. And in 2022, UT Southwestern again received $100 million, this time from the O’Donnell Foundation.
Children’s Medical Center Foundation President Brent Christopher said conversations with Mack Pogue about the new pediatric hospital began more than two years ago. The family’s gift generates fundraising momentum for the facility in a “priceless” way, he added.
“We’re particularly grateful that Mack Pogue and the family were willing to make this commitment in advance of all the design work that is still underway,” Christopher said. “So he, in essence, made this gift on faith that everything was going to come together the right way for the hospital, because he knew how important it was to get started.”
Over the last four decades, the Pogues have given more than $200 million to Children’s Health and UT Southwestern, allowing the institutions to deliver top care while also conducting world-class scientific research. In a statement, UT Southwestern President Daniel Podolsky lauded Jean and Mack Pogue for their “remarkable foresight and philanthropy.”
Mack, who died this past January 30, was a Dallas real estate developer who partnered with fellow developer Trammell Crow in the 1960s to launch Lincoln Property Co. Lincoln, one of the nation’s biggest apartment-building companies, is well-known locally for its Village apartment community. It also developed Lincoln Centre and Ross Tower, as well as more than 200,000 apartments across the country.
At today’s announcement, a tip of the hat to the Pogues and their philanthropy came from Miguel Solis, who told the SRO crowd that despite being born in Port Arthur, he had moved to Dallas’ “Ellis Island” (aka The Village apartment complex).
Miguel’s adorable daughter Olivia Solis, it seems, had received life-saving care at Children’s, including a heart transplant, for a congenital heart defect. So, as Miguel put it, Children’s is more than a building — it’s a home for staffers and families.
It turned out that Jean’s wish of the day was to have her photo taken with Olivia. Of course, the youngster in a white dress sprinkled with red hearts was more than happy to oblige.
As Daniel, Christopher and Brent described the overwhelming support the Pogue family had provided over the years for the well-being of North Texas, Jean and her son Blair held hands.
Along with a shower of confetti and Children’s youngsters doing the great reveal of the $100 million donation, a number of faces in the crowd at today’s event can be seen at MySweetCharity Photo Gallery.
* Rendering provided by Children's Medical Center Foundation