When Mark A. Wallace gave his initial presentation to the executive council and board 25 years ago, he said his goal was for Texas Children’s to be the preeminent pediatric health care institution in the world.
Today, Texas Children’s is consistently ranked the best children’s hospital in Texas, and among the top in the nation. The organization has grown exponentially during the past two and a half decades and has garnered widespread recognition for its expertise and breakthroughs in pediatric and women’s health.
All of this and more has been accomplished under Wallace’s visionary leadership, a characteristic Texas Children’s chief executive officer says influences and determines outcomes, not some of the time, but all of the time.
To commemorate Wallace’s service to the organization, Texas Children’s Board of Trustees created the Mark A. Wallace Catalyst Leadership Award five years ago. The award recognizes incredible leaders across the organization and offers them various career-enhancing opportunities.
This year, in honor of Wallace’s 25-year anniversary with Texas Children’s, the board of trustees – with the support of a one million dollar endowment from the Texas Children’s Hospital Foundation – took it a step further and established the Mark A. Wallace Leadership University at Texas Children’s. The university will recognize Wallace’s legacy of leadership and his passion for developing the next generation of health care leaders.
“I was totally surprised,” Wallace said of the board’s announcement. “I had no idea the board was contemplating giving me anything, much less something as significant and personal to me as the catalyst leadership university.”
Wallace said he is thrilled the university will be an educational and leadership development forum for future leaders at Texas Children’s.
“Leadership has been one of the hallmarks and most significant characteristics of the 25 years I have had the privilege of working at Texas Children’s,” Wallace said. “I think the board and the rest of the organization recognizes the profound impact that leadership has had on the quality, service, safety and accessibility we offer to all of the patients and families we take care of.”
During the next year, Wallace said he and a group of people across the organization will hammer out the details of exactly how the university will operate.
What he knows for sure is that the university will be directed toward achieving corporate goals and focused on corporate capabilities as well as the need of the individual learners. It also will be for everyone here at Texas Children’s.
“It will be for people at all levels who are interested in leadership and leadership development,” Wallace said, pointing out that one of his 10 maximums of leadership is that leadership applies to everyone. “There will be many people involved from across the entire Texas Children’s campus.”