White House to honor longtime UT supporter Teresa Lozano Long

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Teresa Lozano Long will be honored with the National Humanities Medal by President Donald Trump. A ceremony for the annual award will take place in the White House on Thursday morning.

The National Humanities Medal celebrates people who have “deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities and broadened our citizen’s engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities.”

Long is the namesake of the Teresa Lozana Long Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin after she, with her husband Joe Long, started a $10 million school endowment in 2000.

“Teresa Lozano Long is an example to us all in her generosity and steadfast support of education and the arts,” Virginia Garrard, director of LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, told KXAN, “In particular, the consistent contribution of Dr. Long and her husband Joe R. Long as benefactors and supporters of the Institute of Latin American Studies has created rich and significant educational opportunities for countless students, many of them Latinos, and has had an enormous and positive impact in scholarship on Latin America, with benefits far beyond our campus.”

Look for more on this story on KXAN News at 5 and 6 pm.