As many of you know, Trinity’s HCAD Community lost one of its most colorful and influential members in late January 2016. For those of you who were fortunate to know, learn from and enjoy a Halloween party or two, Ted Sparling whoretired in 2014, as Associate Professor of HCAD, was truly one of a kind. “Teddy Ray”, as many of us knew him, deeply cared about his students and was a tremendous supporter of the HCAD program overall.
Sparling arrived at Trinity in 1976 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Care Administration. Two years later, he became Chairman and Director of the department’s Center for Professional Development. Through this position, he was instrumental in establishing HCAD’s Executive Program for administrators with experience who wanted to enrich their knowledge through a rigorous master’s degree program. It was believed to be one of the first non-traditional graduate health care management programs in the United States.
Through his leadership, Trinity’s HCAD program was the first of its kind to be accredited by the national accrediting commission in place at the time.
Outside of Trinity, Sparling served as Chairman of a management study group to reorganize the Texas Department of Mental Health/Mental Retardation and help initiate the Texas Consortium of Geriatric Education Centers.
Sparling earned a doctorate from the School of Public Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, a master’s from the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Texas A&M University.
To celebrate Sparling’s life and many contributions, the Trinity University Health Care Administration Alumni Association Board is spearheading the effort to establish an endowed scholarship to ensure future generations of health care leaders will continue to benefit from “Teddy Ray”. In order to achieve our goal, we must raise $100,000 to fund an endowed scholarship with Trinity. If we are not able to raise the endowed goal, we will either come back to our donors for further direction, or we will direct the funds to a spend down account for HCAD student scholarships.
You may donate online or by check.
You can contribute by making your gift online by selecting “Please select the area you'd like to support”, clicking on “Give to an area of my choice” and then donating to HCAD Alumni Association under the General tab. Under the collapsible "My gift is in honor of..." tab, please remember to include "The Ted R. Sparling Memorial/HCAD Student Scholarships."
Alternatively, you may make your check payable to Trinity University and in the memo/comment line, include "The Ted R. Sparling Memorial/HCAD Student Scholarships." Checks can be mailed to:
Trinity University Alumni Office
Attn: HCAD Alumni Association
One Trinity Place
San Antonio, TX 78212
Please help all of us create a lasting memory and tribute to a professor, administrator and friend who provided so much to so many.
You might be interested in
