The University of Texas at Austin

College of Liberal Arts

I, Roger Worthington, hereby acknowledge my commitment to the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System for the benefit of The University of Texas at Austin to establish the Worthington Endowed Professorship for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in Plan II as a permanent endowment for the further benefit of the Plan II program in the College of Liberal Arts. This endowment will be established with a $700,000 gift from the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, of which I am the founding director.

Funds distributed from this endowment shall be used in accordance with University regulations to reward and support the scholarly work of an outstanding Biology faculty member with a specialization in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology to teach the Plan II Biology course. The course I wish to encourage will introduce students to the key concepts of genetics, evolution, and ecology necessary to comprehend the population, ecosystem and landscape levels of biology: that is, above the level of molecules, cells and organisms.  It is my preference that the selected professor  use a portion of the endowment distributions to support a graduate student as teaching assistant for the labs associated with this course. A well-rounded Teaching Assistant is vital to stimulating (and in some cases regulating) the discussion groups. It is my preference that this endowment will provide compensation to a Teaching Assistant from among Ecology, Evolution and Behavior Ph.D. candidates who have a strong interest in applying basic biology to the earth’s problems.

I credit a similar course, taken as an undergraduate student, for encouraging my interest in social, political and legal advocacy and hope to motivate similar interest in future students. Holders of the professorship shall be nominated by the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts  in consultation with the Director of the Plan II program, and approved according to standard University procedures.

This endowment may be merged or commingled with other funds held by the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System for investment purposes, in accordance with the policies of the Board of Regents. Funds distributed from the endowment in a year may be retained and expended for the purposes of the endowment in subsequent years, and a portion may be designated, at the discretion of the Board or The University of Texas at Austin administration, as a permanent addition to the principal of the endowment.

Such endowment shall never become part of the Permanent University Fund, the Available University Fund or the General Fund of the State of Texas, and shall never be subject to appropriation by the legislature of the State of Texas. All future additions to the endowment, made by the Board of Regents, The University of Texas at Austin or any others shall be subject to the provisions of this instrument of donor intent and shall be considered permanent endowment funds.  If, in the opinion of the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System, future academic circumstances change so that the purposes for which the endowment is established become illegal, impractical, or no longer able to be carried out to meet the needs of The University of Texas at Austin, the Board of Regents may designate an alternative use for the endowment payout, in the spirit of my original purpose.

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Roger G. Worthington, P.C.

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