UTSA receives $1 million gift from Brackenridge Foundation
(Dec. 19, 2001)--UTSA has received a $1 million gift from the George W. Brackenridge Foundation to establish the Sue E. Denman Distinguished Chair in American Literature in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts. The chair will support UTSA's proposed new doctoral program in English.
"This gift does much to foster UTSA's evolution into a tier-one institution in the State of Texas," said Ricardo Romo, president of UTSA. "As a result of the Brackenridge Foundation's generosity, UTSA students will benefit from superior scholarship and teaching for many years."
The chair is named for Sue E. Denman, grandmother of Gilbert and Leroy Denman, trustees of the Brackenridge Foundation. Sue Denman was the mother of seven children whom she educated at home. One of the first Texas women to attend college, she successfully encouraged all of her children to attend college or university. She was the wife of Judge Leroy G. Denman, a close associate of George W. Brackenridge.
"In preparation for the new Ph.D. in English, we have recruited several outstanding senior professors in the last couple of years to complement an already strong faculty in the Department of English, Classics and Philosophy," said Alan E. Craven, dean of the College of Liberal and Fine Arts. "Now, the Brackenridge gift will enable UTSA to attract a nationally prominent scholar who will bring immediate attention to an innovative doctoral program that could well become a national model."
UTSA's new Ph.D. program will serve as a national magnet for students who wish to benefit from its cross-cultural fusion of traditional literatures, Latina/o studies, African American literature and writing instruction. The Sue E. Denman Endowed Chair in American Literature will be a critical component as UTSA prepares doctoral students for college-level teaching in culturally diverse classrooms. Current projections predict that Hispanics will constitute 83 percent of the population growth among 18- to 24-year-olds in Texas between 2000 and 2030.
The College of Liberal and Fine Arts and the Brackenridge Foundation previously
partnered to establish the Brackenridge Distinguished Visiting Professorship
in the Humanities. This gift created a rich academic environment in which
UTSA students have had the opportunity to study with great scholars such as
Ramon Saldivar, Jacques Barzun, Sacvan Bercovitch and
Houston A. Baker Jr.
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UTSA receives $1 million gift from Brackenridge Foundation
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© The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2001