Honoring mentors, inspiring service: A commitment to McGovern Medical School’s future

From the classrooms of McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston to mountain villages in South America, Thomas “Tom” A. Leavens, MD ’90, has spent his life striving to make a difference. As a student, he was deeply influenced by mentors whose compassion and guidance helped shape his path—lessons he carried into a career of service to underserved communities around the world.

Now, Tom is paying that mentorship forward by establishing two student scholarship endowments through his estate, honoring the faculty members who made a lasting impact on his life.

“These scholarships are a reflection of my gratitude,” Tom says. “I want students to have the same chance I did—to be supported, encouraged, and inspired when they need it most.”

The Thomas A. Leavens, MD ’90, Endowed Scholarship in Honor of Henry W. Strobel, PhD, will help students facing financial barriers to pursue their education at McGovern Medical School. Strobel, who passed away in 2019, was a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the school's inaugural Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs. He also served as a priest at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, where Leavens attended services.

“Our relationship went far beyond biochemistry,” Tom says. “He officiated the memorial services for my parents and grandmother. He was just a great guy who dedicated his life to students like me.”

The Thomas A. Leavens, MD ’90, Endowed Mission Service Scholarship in Honor of Margaret C. McNeese, MD, will support students who aspire to care for underserved communities. McNeese, one of McGovern Medical School’s longest-serving faculty members and a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, made an indelible mark on Tom’s life. As the former Dean of Students, she helped guide him through the rigors of medical school while also modeling a lifelong commitment to serving vulnerable patients.

“She was just incredibly supportive,” he recalls. “Not everybody breezes through medical school, and she helped me when I was struggling.”

Tom’s passion for medical mission work first began when he was a teenager. He spent several weeks in Nicaragua as part of a high school service project through Amigos de las Américas, administering vaccines and witnessing poverty on a scale he had never imagined.

“I saw people living with nothing but the hope of getting something to eat that day,” he says. “It changed me. It lit a fire to serve the underserved, and that flame has never gone out.”

That early experience blossomed into decades of medical outreach in Central and South America. Now retired, Tom commits one month each year to delivering care where it is needed most. By establishing the scholarships in honor of Strobel and McNeese, he hopes to encourage future physicians to do the same.

“I want students to go out into the world and serve,” Tom says. “There’s so much need, and this kind of work shapes you in ways nothing else can.”

In addition to his outreach work, Tom is also committed to mentoring medical students, just as Strobel and McNeese did for him, while emphasizing the integrity and compassion that make a good doctor. Through his generous support of students at McGovern Medical School, Tom is transforming his gratitude into a meaningful legacy that will benefit the future of medicine and all those following his path.

“I appreciate that after I’m gone, this money will help students forever,” he says. “I hope it will encourage them to find the joy that comes in giving back.”