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Bill Harvin, Longtime Development Board Member, Dies
William C. Harvin III
William C. Harvin III, 88, a Life Member of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Development Board, died July 14.
A prominent attorney and civic leader, he had a special interest in the Houston medical community and served on several health-related boards. In recognition of his contributions, the Texas Medical Center named the street between Braeswood Boulevard and Old Spanish Trail “William C. Harvin Boulevard” in 1996.
“Bill Harvin was a man of wisdom and conviction, and served the Texas Medical Center for many years, especially during the founding years of the UT Health Science Center at Houston,” said James T. Willerson, M.D., president of the UT Health Science Center. “His commitment to excellence in anything bearing the UT imprimatur helped to provide a solid foundation for our presence in the TMC today. We shall always be grateful for his many contributions to our success. I will personally miss him as a friend, mentor and supporter of the UT Health Science Center at Houston.”
Devotion to the UT Health Science Center has become a Harvin family tradition. Bill Harvin and his wife, Helen, and their son David Harvin and his wife, Sally, were donors to the New Frontiers Campaign to build a new facility for The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases and to provide funds for the recruitment and retention of world-renowned scientists. They also have sup-ported scholarship funds at the UT School of Nursing at Houston and the UT Medical School at Houston.
A current member of the Development Board, Sally Harvin also was a member of the New Frontiers Steering Committee and a past chair of PARTNERS support group for the School of Nursing.
Two of Bill’s grandchildren, William Hartman Harvin, M.D., and John Andrew Harvin, M.D., are new surgery residents at the UT Health Science Center this year. They are children of Sally and David Harvin.
Bill Harvin told a grandson, Harvin Lawhon, that he considered his family to be his greatest accomplishment, recalled David Harvin, who wrote the memorial that appeared in the Houston Chronicle. “A warm and gracious man, he loved helping other people. In his later years he impressed everyone with the courage and dignity with which he faced his affliction with Parkinson’s.”
A native of San Francisco, Bill Harvin grew up in Houston and was a graduate of UT Austin. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he completed UT Law School in 1947.
Joining Baker Botts as a trial attorney, he rose to man-aging partner, remaining until his retirement in 1984. He was elected a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and was president of what is now the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel.
Bill Harvin was honored in 1987 with the UT Distinguished Alumnus Award. He was a member of the Dean’s Council of the Law School, Chancellor’s Council of the UT System, President’s Council of UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, and a Life Member of the Ex-Students’ Association.
He served the Houston business community as chairman of the board of the Houston Chamber of Commerce. He was active in support of the field of education and the Episcopal Church. He also received the Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the Houston Bar Auxiliary’s Leon Jaworski Award for service to the community.
He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Helen, their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
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