Honoring the 2025 HCAD Alumni Association Award Recipients

Join us in celebrating excellence in healthcare leadership by honoring Duce Award winner, Rick Merrill, and Momentum Award winner, Esther Kwon, at the HCAD Panel and Awards Dinner on Friday, October 24, 2025. 

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Trinity University’s Health Care Administration (HCAD) Alumni Association will gather for a panel discussion from 2-3 p.m. in Chapman Auditorium. The annual dinner and awards ceremony honoring the recipients of the 2025 Duce and Momentum Awards will take place from 6-9 p.m. in the Korbell Great Hall inside the Chapman Center.

The Duce Award honors a graduate of the HCAD program who has shown outstanding leadership and made significant contributions to the field of health services administration. The award is presented annually and is named after Dean Leonard A. Duce, a former dean of the graduate school at Trinity and one of the program’s founding faculty members.

The Momentum Award recognizes early careerists aged 40 and under for outstanding achievements in the field of healthcare management.

As HCAD turns 60 in 2025, this year’s award celebration is especially meaningful, a reflection of the program’s enduring legacy and future promise.

“Each year, the Duce and Momentum Awards allow us to celebrate the outstanding impact of our alumni,” says Ed Schumacher, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Health Care Administration. “These honorees represent the best of what our program aspires to cultivate—humbitious* leaders who are not only accomplished professionals but also dedicated to serving their communities and supporting the program. We are incredibly proud of their achievements and grateful for the example they set for current and future students.”

If you or your company would like to sponsor this year’s event, we invite you to help recognize the achievements of our alumni and support the continued success of the HCAD program. Sponsorships are a meaningful way to show your support and offer visibility among fellow alumni and healthcare leaders. For details, please click here or contact Jordan Jernigan.

Meet this year's HCAD award winners:

The Duce Award

Rick W. Merrill M’84

As president and CEO of Cook Children’s Health Care System since 2007, Rick Merrill has led the Fort Worth-based organization at a time of unprecedented growth, including the historic expansion of Cook Children’s Medical Center, which nearly quadrupled the size of its campus in response to the growing need for its services. In 2023, a new Medical Center opened in Prosper, Texas. Under Merrill’s leadership, Cook Children’s began a new era by streamlining its mission and vision into a Promise to improve the well-being of every child in its care and its communities.

As a not-for-profit, nationally recognized and integrated pediatric healthcare organization, Cook Children’s comprises nine entities—two Medical Centers, Physician Network, Home Health company, three outpatient pediatric surgery centers, Health Plan, and Health Foundation. With more than 1.5 million patient encounters per year, Cook Children’s growing reputation draws patients from near and far. Patients travel from across Texas and the United States, as well as internationally, to receive life-saving pediatric care at Cook Children’s.

A graduate of Texas Tech University, Merrill received his Master of Science in Health Care Administration in 1984 from Trinity University. For more than 40 years, Merrill has served in leadership roles in large academic/university-based health care systems, and both for-profit and not-for-profit healthcare facilities. 

A recipient of the Fort Worth Business Press’ Executive of the Year Award in 2013 and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce’s Susan Halsey Executive Leadership Award in 2017, Merrill is a widely recognized and respected leader in his field.

He actively serves on numerous national, state, and community advisory boards, including the Children’s Hospital Association (past chair), Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (past chair), Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety (a collaborative of 120 children’s hospitals), the Children’s Hospital Association of Texas (past chair), Texas Hospital Association, Texas Association of Voluntary Hospitals (past chair), the Dallas/Fort Worth Hospital Council (past chair), and All Saints Episcopal School (past chair).

Married for more than 35 years, Merrill and his wife have two daughters and one grandson.

The Momentum Award

Esther Kwon M’11

Esther Kwon serves as the CEO of Methodist Hospital Texsan and has more than 13 years of experience in hospital administration and leadership. Prior to joining Methodist Hospital Texsan in 2023, Kwon served at St. David’s Medical Center in Austin for more than 11 years, including serving six years as its chief operating officer.

Kwon has led advancements to improve care for Central Texas communities through optimization and expansion of clinical services, including cardiovascular services, orthopedics, surgical oncology, and robotics. She has consistently led through the establishment of strategic and collaborative partnerships with stakeholders.

During her time at St. David’s Medical Center, she spearheaded a multitude of construction and expansion projects, including the build-out of one of the nation’s preeminent Electrophysiology Centers. Kwon led 16 hospital departments and services, supported the system in achieving the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, and played an instrumental role in leading the hospital through multiple regulatory and emergency operation situations, including the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Kwon holds a Master of Science in Health Care Administration from Trinity and a Bachelor of Science in Health Policy from The Pennsylvania State University.

She is married to James Kwon and is the mother to two daughters, Ellie (5) and Evelyn (3).

Do you know any outstanding Trinity HCAD alumni working in health care? Nominate a deserving Tiger for the Duce Award or the Momentum Award here.