How one alumna’s gift creates ripples far beyond the classroom
The conversation around the table was unlike anything Marilyn White had experienced in her decades of supporting University of Texas students. Five doctoral candidates from the School of Social Work shared their research passions with the 87-year-old mathematics alumna — studies on babies born to addicted mothers, addiction recovery, and overdose prevention strategies that meet people where they are.
Wounded Healers
“I was very touched by their individual stories and their ability to overcome adversity in their life and wanting to help others,” White recalls. “I love this quote by Henri Nouwen, ‘We’re all wounded, and once we admit we’re wounded, then we become wounded healers ’“
White knows something about wounded healers. Her own daughter celebrated 17 years of sobriety this year and recently testified before the Texas Senate Finance Committee about recovery policy. The journey to that moment taught White lessons about investment, patience, and the transformative power of refusing to give up on human potential.
“I saw life before recovery, and then I saw life after recovery,” White explains. “I know that changing one person’s life can be the world for them and for others. If I can help one student be successful at UT, that’s all that matters — especially for that student.”
Investment in Human Potential
That philosophy drove White’s recent gift to UT Social Work, substantial funding designed to support doctoral students in ways that extend far beyond tuition assistance. Her gift helps students attend conferences, conduct and present research, build professional networks, and pursue the collaborative connections that define academic careers. Additionally, her gift gives doctoral students the time and space to focus on their dissertations and research.
“Sometimes students need gas money to get to their practicum sites,” White notes, referencing her support of the UTeach-Liberal Arts program. “Or they need funding to attend meetings where they’ll meet the colleagues they’ll work with for the rest of their careers. We think about helping people with tuition, but there’s so much more to a full life at UT.”
Among the students White met that evening was Jake Samora, whose research exemplifies the kind of realworld impact that draws her investment. Samora’s work focuses on overdose prevention and health outcomes among people who use drugs and intersecting subpopulations (i.e., people living with HIV) by drawing on community-engaged research methods, which are critical for developing solutions that save lives across Texas.
Research that Saves Lives
As research staff at the Addiction Research Institute, Samora contributed to TxCOPE (Texans Connecting Overdose Prevention Efforts), a platform that improves data collection on overdose incidents statewide. His approach brings together diverse stakeholders — outreach providers, first responders, and people who use drugs themselves — breaking down barriers that often separate communities.
“Harm reduction services are often delivered in street outreach environments, which enables caring for client populations experiencing significant social vulnerability who may not access any other formal system of care,” Samora explains. “We have found through our research that there are systemic barriers to seeking care for these populations, even when there is a life-threatening situation like an overdose.”
For White, meeting Samora created a profound sense of alignment between her personal experience and her philanthropic investment. Here was a researcher who understood that behind every data point sits a human being deserving of hope and second chances.
“I consider these students an investment,” White says. She found that in other doctoral students, such as Madison Haiman, Jeffrey Morris, Obi Onyegesi, and Cat Wilsnack.
The impact clearly resonates across recipients. “Ms. White hasn’t simply invested in my projects — she’s invested in me.” said Onyegesi, who credits her support for enabling conference presentations and research advancement. Fellow doctoral student Haiman echoed the sentiment: “As a doctoral student, you often have to be selective about what training opportunities to pursue due to limited funding, but Marilyn’s generous gift is giving me the freedom to attend more conferences and trainings I otherwise would not have been able to attend.”
Relationships Matter
White’s giving philosophy emerged from years of supporting UT students, starting with small gifts that grew into deeper relationships. She chaired the Texas Exes scholarship committee for three years and was a member when they established the Forty Acres Scholars Program, now in its 16th year. She calls her scholarship recipients family and maintains lifelong friendships with graduates who are changing the world.
The approach defines White’s giving — direct, personal and relationship-centered — challenges traditional assumptions about major gift philanthropy. She specifically requests that her donations go directly to department heads “who can administer them without any strings attached.” More importantly, she places a priority on getting to know the students her gifts support.
“I’m always heartsick when I talk to people who received scholarships but never knew the donor,” White says. “That doesn’t fly for me. I want to know ‘my kids.’”
White’s message to potential donors reflects both the urgency of student need and the accessibility of meaningful impact: “If you have $100 to give, do it. If you have $1,000 or a million, whatever — do it today. Every dollar will change your life.”
The mathematics major who graduated in 1959 has spent decades proving that the most sophisticated calculations aren’t always numerical. Sometimes they’re about human potential, measured in lives transformed, careers launched, and communities served by people who understand that healing often comes from those who have been wounded themselves.
“Students who’ve been helped are motivated to help others,” White observes. “So, it’s really kind of a selfish gift for me, because I reap all the rewards of friendship and lifelong friends.”
Marilyn’s gift supports five doctoral students researching addiction and recovery. Those students are:
- Jake Samora
- Madison Haiman
- Jeffrey Morris
- Obi Onyegesi
- Cat Wilsnack