Southwestern University’s newest major now has an endowed chair. Dr. Timothy B. Boone, Ph.D. ’77 has pledged a gift of $1 million to establish an endowed chair in engineering. The generous gift comes after Southwestern’s announcement that a bachelor of science (B.S.) in engineering will become available to all current and incoming students this fall.
“Creativity with critical thinking based on an ethical foundation were fundamental to my Southwestern education,” Boone said. “Funding an engineering chair is deeply personal to me and it is my way of paying it forward. Engineering students, shaped by a liberal arts education, will see people with more compassion and apply their technical skills to meet human-centered values. I am who I am today because Southwestern University impacted my life forever.”
A graduate of Southwestern’s biology program, Boone is the director of the Education Institute at the Houston Methodist Academic Institute and a professor of urology at Weill Cornell Medical College. He also holds positions as vice dean and professor of urology at Texas A&M College of Medicine and Baylor College of Medicine. Boone played a pivotal role in Southwestern’s transformative partnership with Houston Methodist Hospital in 2024, which has since allowed dozens of students to earn hands-on experience in one of the nation’s leading hospital systems.
“Working with Tim has been both a joy and an inspiration,” Southwestern Vice President for University Relations Marie Muhvic said. “While his distinguished career speaks for itself, it is his deep generosity and unwavering belief in the power of education that truly set him apart. His visionary support to establish engineering at Southwestern will leave a lasting legacy that will benefit students for generations.”
The Dr. Timothy B. Boone, Ph.D. ’77 Endowed Chair in Engineering will be awarded to a faculty member in the University’s newly-expanded Department of Physics and Engineering. Southwestern’s first new major in two decades, the engineering program is designed to educate the next generation of engineers in the liberal arts tradition, ensuring they have a profound understanding of the impact of the technologies they develop.
The program will provide students with a strong foundation in engineering principles, mathematics, and applied physics, with a particular emphasis on innovation and problem-solving. The degree will integrate classroom instruction and laboratory experience, culminating in a year-long engineering capstone project in which students will work with industry partners to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world problems.
Southwestern’s addition of an undergraduate engineering degree will expand opportunities for rigorous inquiry, strengthen interdisciplinary connections across the curriculum, and attract strong students motivated to study engineering. Students will have the opportunity to work in research settings that integrate engineering with the arts and sciences, providing high-impact learning experiences while maintaining the breadth of knowledge that comes from attending a liberal arts institution.
Boone hopes that his gift will encourage other alumni and friends of the University to support Southwestern’s upcoming initiatives. In addition to the new engineering major, the University recently announced that the Department of Economics and Business is expanding to offer a bachelor of arts (B.A.) in finance, further preparing students for careers in banking, financial planning, investments, corporate finance, and other related fields.
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