Dr. Timothy Boone, who is frequently listed as one of the best doctors in the nation in the field of urology, has accepted an appointment to serve as chair of Southwestern University’s Science Center Advisory Council. The Council was formed this year to help design and fund the development of Southwestern’s new $24 million Science Center. Dr. Dan Stultz, a 1972 Southwestern graduate who currently serves as president of the Texas Hospital Association, has been named vice chair of the council.

Dr. Boone is a 1977 graduate of Southwestern. He received his medical degree from The University of Texas Medical School at Houston and a Ph.D. in. neuroscience from The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Houston.

Dr. Boone currently serves as chief of urology at The Methodist Hospital in Houston and  is the staff urologist over the Spinal Cord Injury Unit at the Houston VA Medical Center. Dr. Boone has faculty appointments at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas A&M College of Medicine and Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University and is president of the American Board of Urology for 2011-12. He also is a Senior Director of The Methodist Hospital Research Institute (TMHRI), with which Southwestern is developing an active collaboration for science education. 

Southwestern is raising $24 million to completely redesign its current science facility, the Fondren-Jones Science Building, which consists of an original building constructed in 1954 and a new wing added in 1999. Many of the university’s science laboratories are still located in the 1954 structure. New construction adding 37,000 square feet of new space plus renovations of existing space will result in the new center totaling more than 100,000 square feet.

The overarching goal of the new facility is to connect Southwestern students to 21st century science, which is much more interdisciplinary. The new building will enable Southwestern to facilitate such interdisciplinary work by consolidating all its science programs – which currently are spread out among three buildings − into one building.

The new building also will facilitate additional faculty-student research, which is a hallmark of Southwestern’s science program. The new facility also will better position Southwestern graduates to participate in the rapidly growing healthcare and biotechnology sectors in Williamson County. It also will enable Southwestern to attract top faculty members.

To date, Southwestern has received two major gifts for the new science center – a $3 million gift from The Cullen Foundation of Houston and a $1 million gift from The Fondren Foundation of Houston.

Dr. Boone is recruiting a group of fellow scientists, health care professionals and advocates to join him on the Science Center Advisory Council.