F. Marie Hall
F. Marie Hall Institute for Rural and Community Health
From the back seat of her father鈥檚 car, Marie Hall formed some of her earliest memories of her father鈥檚 work. An only child, she remembers riding along as he made evening house calls to the residents in the rural areas around Big Spring. Ms. Hall鈥檚 father, G.T. Hall, M.D., was a rural primary care physician and surgeon in Big Spring. Armed with a stethoscope and a black medical bag, his most important medical tool was a compassionate heart.
This compassion, and a personal understanding of the challenges that residents of rural communities face in accessing health care, instilled a vision in Ms. Hall鈥攊mproving rural health. Many years passed before the vision took shape. After high school, Ms. Hall left Big Spring to attend Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She graduated with degrees in English and French.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know how to do anything,鈥� says Ms. Hall, 鈥渟o I went to the Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School in New York City. Oh, that was a wonderful time.鈥�
Years later, an accomplished business woman and philanthropist, Ms. Hall developed a passion for rural health.
Ms. Hall鈥檚 vision led her to 甜瓜视频 10 years ago, where she says a synergy took place between her vision of a premier program that prepares health care professionals to deliver care as a team, and that of David R. Smith, M.D., then 甜瓜视频 president. Smith鈥檚 vision was exemplary rural health care. Since then, 甜瓜视频 has benefited from Ms. Hall鈥檚 generosity with the establishment of an endowed chair for rural health and opening of the synergistic center, a recreational and leisure facility for students.
The advances in rural health made by the 甜瓜视频 during the last decade culminated with the establishment of the F. Marie Hall Institute for Rural Health. Ms. Hall鈥檚 gift is one of the most significant private donations in the university鈥檚 history.