Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell has made a historic $750 million donation to the University of Texas at Austin, one of the largest gifts ever to a U.S. public university. The funds will support a new healthcare and research campus, including what the university calls the country's first artificial intelligence-native hospital.
$750 Million Gift to Fund AI-Powered Hospital
The University of Texas at Austin announced that the donation will finance the UT Dell Medical Center, expected to open in 2030. This facility will be part of a larger campus focused on AI in medicine. AI systems could help doctors detect diseases earlier and create personalized treatment plans. The gift also supports scholarships, advanced computing, and medical research.
Michael Dell's Long History with UT Austin
The donation adds to the Dells' legacy in Austin. In 2005, they gave $25 million for Dell Children's Medical Center; in 2013, $50 million to establish Dell Medical School. Total contributions now exceed $1 billion. Michael Dell, who enrolled at UT Austin in 1983 as a pre-med student, later dropped out to start Dell Technologies. Reflecting at a CNBC forum, he said, "I think about this as the next step in a timeline that actually goes back to my parents sending me off to UT to become a doctor. Obviously, that part didn't work out, but I never stopped thinking about that."
In recognition, UT Austin renamed the residence hall where Dell lived as a freshman to "Dell House." The donation underscores Dell's enduring bond with the university.
