Impact Stories

JUNE 9, 2025 — UT San Antonio students will gain expanded access to hands-on learning and career preparation as the result of a new $6 million commitment from San Antonio philanthropist and longtime UT San Antonio supporter Harvey E. Najim. Over the next decade, this gift will support programs at the Harvey E. Najim Center for Innovation and Career Advancement and the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, strengthening opportunities for students to gain real-world professional experience. 

With this latest contribution, Najim’s total support for UT San Antonio now surpasses $15 million, reaffirming his commitment to student success, experiential learning and the overall advancement of the university as a leader in higher education across the state and nation.

MARCH 20, 2025 — UT San Antonio is gearing up for the fifth annual UT San Antonio Giving Day, set to take place on April 1 and 2. This spirited online fundraising event calls on the entire Roadrunner community — alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends — to unite in support of student success, academic programs and university initiatives.

This year, donors have a unique opportunity to “Build the Nest” of support for students in preparation for the integration with UT Health San Antonio this fall. The 2025 event also marks the final Giving Day of Be Bold: A Campaign for Our Future, making it a historic opportunity to contribute to the university’s bold future.

The Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design (Klesse College) is creating a new scholarship fund for students who want to build careers in the fast-growing clean energy industry. A $250,000 gift from OCI Energy will be used to establish the fund, among other educational initiatives.

tarting in the fall of 2025, the UT San Antonio Klesse College will award two $10,000 scholarships annually to students pursuing engineering degrees focused on renewable energy. In addition, the support from OCI Energy will allow the UT San Antonio Alumni Association to provide one $10,000 scholarship per academic year to students majoring in business management, economics or political science who are interested in the renewable energy sector.

The Huddle Against Hunger challenge, held from Friday, August 30, to Saturday, September 7, 2024, concluded with Texas State University and UT San Antonio raising more than $85,000 to fight food insecurity.

UT San Antonio rallied 942 donors, raising about $22,600, while Texas State gathered 1,115 supporters and raised over $33,000. All funds from the challenge will go directly to stock each university’s food pantry, providing critical resources as the new academic year begins. 

The UT San Antonio Alumni Association will honor its 2024 annual award recipients for their service to the university at the UT San Antonio Alumni Association’s annual gala later this week. The Lifetime Achievement Award will honor Steve ’92, M.S. ’93 and Tami Griffin ’94. The Outstanding Alumnus Award will recognize Tim Morrow ’97 and the Distinguished Service Award will go to Andrew Waterman ’03.

The Klesse Summer Bridge Program helps prospective engineering students prepare for the rigor of their first semester by further developing math and chemistry skills and introducing them to college resources in the four weeks leading up to their freshman fall on campus.

UT San Antonio has reached a milestone in matching funds from a $500,000 grant made by the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation to support and expand UT San Antonio Arts’ Young Artist Programs. By adding matching gifts from other local and national foundations over the past year, the grant from the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation will yield a total gift commitment of $750,000.

UT San Antonio is a national leader in empowering students for career success and the University Career Center (UCC) is the driving force behind this effort. Through innovative strategies that foster employer-student connections, investments in best-in-class professional development technologies, and a commitment to offering hands-on opportunities, the UCC helps UT San Antonio students imagine, discover, experience and design their future career.

Now, thanks to a gift from longtime employer partner GM Financial, the UCC has transformed part of its front lobby into the Career Lab powered by GM Financial — a dedicated communal space where students can receive guidance on anything related to their professional interests and pursuits. 

The UT San Antonio community is mourning the loss of Carlos Alvarez, a highly respected businessman, passionate philanthropist, generous benefactor and honorary Roadrunner. Alvarez was an exceptional individual who, along with his wife, Malú, championed higher education, inspired positive change and uplifted the UT San Antonio and San Antonio communities.

Carlos demonstrated kindness and impacted every person he met and every team he led. His business acumen was second to none, but more than that, he was a person of great conviction...

UT San Antonio will host its fourth annual UT San Antonio Giving Day on April 9 and 10 to raise funds for student success initiatives including career-readiness programs, experiential learning opportunities, research and discovery efforts, and overall program support across the entire university.

UT San Antonio Giving Day originally launched in 2021 as part of Be Bold: A Campaign for Our Future, the largest fundraising campaign in university history. Be Bold has raised more than $380 million from over 46,000 donors across 22 countries.

First-generation college student, Belinda Alonso-Coronado, has always been fascinated by mathematics. When she discovered math's integral role in architecture, she began to dream of a career in the field. She received her Associate of Arts degree from Austin Community College through her high school’s dual enrollment program with the hope of someday pursuing a degree from a four-year university. Today, her hope is being realized thanks to the Hector and Gloria López Foundation López Scholars Program. In March 2023, the Foundation announced a $2.4 million grant to provide full tuition assistance for 15 Latino first-generation college students at UT San Antonio, creating pathways to educational attainment and a pipeline to a successful career.

The University of Texas at San Antonio has honored professor emerita and respected scholar Ellen Riojas Clark, Ph.D. with the creation of The Ellen Riojas Clark, Ph.D. Endowed Chair in Bicultural-Bilingual Studies. The endowed chair, established by the College of Education and Human Development and the Riojas Clark family, is the first chair in the United States in Bicultural-Bilingual Studies named for a Latina scholar.

The Ellen Riojas Clark, Ph.D. Endowed Chair will recognize Clark’s outstanding scholarship and teaching as well as her commitment to the educational needs of traditionally underserved populations.

UT San Antonio computer science alumnus, Joey Mukherjee, ‘95 became interested in the field of computer science at a young age. Recognizing the high-quality education he could receive from UT San Antonio, he joined the university’s computer science program following his high school graduation. Joey recently created an endowed scholarship fund called the Joey Mukherjee Endowed Scholarship for Computer Science Majors Who Don’t Run Good - an homage to a quote from the popular movie Zoolander.

Many may not think computer science and athletics go hand-in-hand, and neither did Joey. To his surprise, he found joy in going for runs after work to improve his focus and keep his body healthy. While he admits to being a slow runner, he has had a great experience participating in the San Antonio running community.

A new undergraduate research experience in pharmaceutical chemistry at UT San Antonio will enable students across the state to gain hands-on training in drug discovery and development before graduation,thanks to a three-year, $450,000 grant from the Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund.

Led by Doug E. Frantz, who holds the Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Distinguished Professorship in Chemistry, the program will offer an immersive learning opportunity to a select group of students from universities across south Texas, beginning in the summer of 2024....

In the lead-up to their highly anticipated football clash on November 4, the University of North Texas (UNT) Mean Green has challenged The UT San Antonio Roadrunners to a spirited 'Battle of the Birds' fundraising challenge. While their football rivalry is often fierce, this challenge unites the two universities in a common goal: supporting students in need.

Named in honor of the universities’ avian mascots, the victor of this Battle of the Birds will secure more than just the right to crow about their achievement—the school that rallies the most donors will unlock a $10,000 bonus to support students in need through their campus food pantry. 

Manuel and María Berriozábal have dedicated their lives to ensuring an equitable future for all in their beloved city of San Antonio.

For more than 40 years, the Berriozábals have been affecting positive change throughout our community.

From creating accessible education programming such as the Prefreshman Engineering Program (PREP) at UT San Antonio to amplifying the voices of others through political activism, their countless contributions have improved the lives of thousands—ranging in all ages and from all underserved communities.  

Based in San Antonio, Zachry Corporation has made a generous gift to the UT San Antonio Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, establishing the Klesse Summer Bridge Program. The program was created to empower students from backgrounds that are historically underrepresented in engineering and offers a supportive and engaging environment for students who are transitioning from high school to college. As a result of the generosity from Zachry Construction, 14 incoming freshman engineering majors were allowed to start their educational journeys one month prior to the start of the Fall 2022 semester, which prepared them for the rigorous curriculum of their first semester courses while simultaneously introducing them to living on a college campus and utilizing UT San Antonio's resources.

Some of Joseph Hernandez-McCloskey’s fondest childhood memories are from the days where he spent time sitting in his grandparents’ yard, watching the fighter jets from Randolph Air Force Base take off and pass over their home in San Antonio. These exciting moments created his early interest in aerospace technology. Now, a doctoral student at UT San Antonio and a 2022 NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity recipient, Hernandez-McCloskey has taken his interest in aviation to the next level and outside of our atmosphere.

In 2018, The University of Texas at San Antonio was fortunate to welcome a new Department of Music Director, Tracy Cowden, D.M.A. who is making great strides in the fields of music performance and healing. Previously the Chair of Virginia Tech’s music department, Cowden was thrilled to accept the position at UT San Antonio when she was offered the Ronald K. Blumberg Endowed Professorship in Music. She knew an endowed position would yield opportunities for her to delve into new research and learn more about her interest in the link between music and health.

On November 30, 2022, the UT San Antonio College of Education and Human Development’s (COEHD) Urban School Leaders Collaborative (USLC) received a $100,000 gift from UT San Antonio Alumni Association members and long-time university supporters Tami ‘94 and Steve Griffin ’92, M.S. ’94. The money will help fund the Betty Lou Griffin and Bertha Rae Damon Endowed Graduate Research Fellowship in Education that the couple established for the USLC in 2016. Named in honor of Steve and Tami Griffin’s mothers, respectively, the fellowship is awarded to all USLC students during their final semester.

Carlos and Malú Alvarez have committed a $20 million gift to UT San Antonio’s College of Business. The gift from the Alvarez family is the first of its kind in the university’s history and will be used to advance research-enhancing activities, including establishing endowed faculty positions, graduate research fellowships and undergraduate research programs. In recognition of the significance of this gift, The University of Texas System Board of Regents has authorized the renaming of the College of Business to the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, making it the first named college at UT San Antonio.

UT San Antonio has received a technology grant via special discounts from Dell Technologies to support advanced technologies and a new research infrastructure platform at the university. Through the substantial savings to UT San Antonio, this technology grant enables and supports UT San Antonio's ability to attract leading research scholars and students. With the grant, UT San Antonio invested in a hybrid cloud approach that utilizes solutions from Dell Technologies to help deliver research in data science and cybersecurity.

To help relieve some of the stress that students might be facing due to coronavirus-related changes to their daily lives, UT San Antonio has created key funds that support Roadrunners' most prevalent needs during this time.

UT San Antonio, Whataburger and the San Antonio Food Bank today announced a partnership to ensure that healthy food, free of charge, is made available to students in need across all of the university's campuses.

UT San Antonio today broke ground on a state-of-the-art, $41.5 million athletic training facility that will help the university draw world-class student-athletes to its Division I programs and provide recreational sports resources to San Antonio residents.

UT San Antonio today announced it has received a $15 million gift from San Antonio business leader Graham Weston to support the university's proposed School of Data Science.

UT San Antonio senior Civil Engineering major, Crista Cerda, returned to San Antonio from Urbino, Italy in the fall of 2019. She spent her days walking along Urbino's cobblestone streets with fellow classmates in search of Italy's delectable cuisine while experiencing the country's rich culture as they learned to communicate with locals. Regularly, her class traveled to major cities like Rome, Italy where she engaged with lead engineers and discussed multiple development projects in the city.