Baylor health sciences college named for Robbins family

This past spring, Baylor announced the creation of a new school within the university which will unite four health-related academic units: Communication Sciences and Disorders; Family and Consumer Sciences; Health, Human Performance and Recreation; and the Louise Herrington School of Nursing.

At its Homecoming meeting last week, Baylor’s Board of Regents announced that the new academic unit will be named the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences in honor of Baylor alumnus and regent William K. Robbins Jr. (BA ’52, LLB ’54, JD ’69) and his wife, Mary Jo.

The Robbins (pictured at right) are “two of Baylor’s most generous benefactors,” as President Ken Starr remarked, having previously providing naming gifts for the Robbins MBA Healthcare Program and the Robbins Institute for Health Policy and Leadership (both in the Hankamer School of Business) and Robbins Chapel in Brooks Village.

“The Robbins Foundation mission is to tell the world about Jesus, educate and heal the sick,” says Mary Jo Robbins, who spent 27 years in the nursing profession. “We cannot do this on our own, but we can help empower others to do this with our gifts.”

The aim of the new Robbins College is to not only prepare students for careers in the health professions, but “to draw upon Baylor’s Christian mission and tradition in healthcare to prepare scholars and leaders who can translate theory into practice and advance knowledge of health, human behavior and quality of life.”

Sic ’em, Robbins family!