Teresa Lozano Long, an educator who with her husband has been a major benefactor of the University of Texas, was awarded the National Humanities Medal at a White House ceremony. The National Humanities Medal is given to“individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities and broadened our citizens’ engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities subjects.”
In 2000, Dr. Long and her husband Joe donated $10 million to establish the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. The couple also donated $25 million to what is now known as the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
“Teresa Lozano Long is an example to us all in her generosity and steadfast support of education and the arts,” said Virginia Garrard, of the Teresa Lozano Long Institute. “In particular, the consistent contribution of Dr. Long and her husband Joe R. Long as benefactors and supporters of the Institute of Latin American Studies has created rich and significant educational opportunities for countless students, many of them Latinos, and has had an enormous and positive impact in scholarship on Latin America, with benefits far beyond our campus.”
Lozano Long grew up on a dairy farm and was the valedictorian of her class at Premont High School in Texas. She earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in education from the University of Texas. After a career in teaching, she returned to the University of Texas to earn a doctorate in health and physical education. She was the first Hispanic woman to earn a doctoral degree in the field at the University of Texas.