Scienmag - Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (TTUHSC El Paso) is set to house Texas' fourth dental school, thanks to a $25 million gift from the Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation.
The new dental school, named the Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine (WLHSODM), will be the first to open in Texas in nearly 50 years, and the first-ever in West Texas, and on the U.S.-Mexico border.
"This new school at TTUHSC El Paso will have a significant impact on oral health care in the Paso del Norte region and West Texas," says university President Richard Lange, M.D., M.B.A. "Our region is severely underserved when it comes to dentistry, and by establishing a school here in the heart of the Borderplex, we expect to retain dentists in our area to help fill this gap."