Dwight Williams and Cynthia Glover

Giving back is part of this couple's personal code. Make a commitment to support a worthy cause, like The University of Texas System, and a greater good is achieved for Texas—and beyond.

A Consistent Promise

Dwight Williams and Cynthia Glover have a strong impulse to contribute to the common good. It’s a motivation that helps define their union. They both have careers in the health care industry, for example. The two met while working at a small, 25-bed critical care hospital in Burnet, Texas. Cynthia is a UT Austin-educated pharmacist (she graduated in 1983) and Dwight is a certified registered nurse anesthetist (see sidebar). Through their work, the couple answers a call to help people in whatever capacity they can.

When they wed, Cynthia and Dwight answered another kind of call: to financially support causes they believe in, such as public radio and various arts societies. Even the smallest of gifts can make a difference, the couple asserts. Then, one year, Dwight wondered what to give his wife for Christmas and decided that his enthusiastic Longhorn spouse would appreciate a membership in the Texas Exes. When Dwight was told that he, a non-alum, could also join the organization, he didn’t hesitate. “I became a Texas Ex the same day Cynthia did,” he says with a chuckle.

Joining the Texas Exes was only the beginning of their philanthropic involvement with all things UT-related. One day, the couple received a call—“from out of the blue”—from a staff member at The University of Texas System, Dwight recalls. One lunch date later, and after having learned about the Chancellor’s initiatives—especially with regard to improving the health of all Texans—the couple decided to make a gift to UT System, which secured them membership in the 1881 Society. The couple later decided to establish the Cynthia S. Glover and Dwight C. Williams Chancellor's Excellence Endowment and, thus, become members of the Ashbel Smith Circle. “We liked the idea that you can build on that initial gift,” Cynthia says. “It’s a consistent promise to contribute loyally to an organization for the next 10, 20, or even more years.”

Steadfast support of UT Austin comes naturally for Cynthia: her parents attended the university, so she is a Longhorn from birth. The decision to broaden that allegiance to include the UT System was solidified when Cynthia and Dwight had an opportunity to spend a day on the UT Austin campus and see, firsthand, students’ “intelligence, creativity, and drive.” It’s inspiring, Cynthia notes, and “you want to be part of their education in some small way.”

Now a member of the Chancellor’s Council Executive Committee, Cynthia is confident that she and other members will be “very innovative” in how they contribute their time and resources in support of providing amazing opportunities for all students enrolled in the UT System’s nine academic and six health care institutions.

“It’s awesome to be able to give kids a bit more of a fighting chance,” Cynthia says, adding that when today’s scholars have such support, “who knows what could happen tomorrow?”