b'COLLEGE OF SCIENCEFUELING CURIOSITY IN NEUROSCIENCEBY CHRYSTAL HOUSTONW hile Dr. Wes Thompson onlywanted to do was go into work and taught at Texas A&M Univer- makesurehisgraduatestudents sity for a short time, his name willwere going to be okay, she added.live on thanks to a chair he endowed in the College of Science that willIt was that care and concern for his enable researchers to continue hisstudents and the field of neurobi-work in neurobiology. His impactology that motivated Thompson to reaches far beyond the financial.gift his Austin, Texas, home to the Texas A&M Foundation for its real Inadditiontohisscientificres-estate specialists to sell. Proceeds earch, a large number of studentshave endowed a faculty chair in the who he trained are still working inCollege of Science.IN THEIR WORDSneurobiology and carrying on his legacy,saidDr.TomMcKnight,Hewasdeeplycurious,Annie professor and head of the Depart- said. He wanted to allow others to"The honor of holding an mentofBiology.Hewasabril- explore their curiosity and to askendowed chair named after liant scientist and teacher and just aquestions. He hoped his gift would terrific person. further the cause of neurobiologyWes Thompson will be a and allow people to make advancesbig attraction for many McKnight worked with Thompsonin this field.at Texas A&M for six years beforeneurobiologists.Thompsonsdeathin2019.HeThompsonledbyexampleintheDr. Tom McKnightremembers his colleague as warm,classroomandinlife.Whilehe funny, and generous with his timecannotbereplaced,thisgiftwill and knowledge, but most of all, hisallow the university to hire another graduate students absolutely lovedesteemed neurobiologist to carry on him. He was so invested in theirhis work. careers, McKnight added. It is another part of his legacy that Thompsonsdaughter,Annie,will live forever, McKnight said. agreed. He was a wonderful men- Thisendowedchairwillalways tor. He cared so much about his stu- be here, and the honor of holding dents. When I was growing up, somean endowed chair named after Wes of them almost became membersThompson will be a big attraction of the family, she recalled, notingfor many neurobiologists. This gift how Thompson celebrated successeswill help us recruit scientists of the from weddings to tenure with them,highest caliber. even years after graduation. He just really loved his students. As he was dying, the only thing he 20 | TEXAS A&M FOUNDATION|OFFICE OF GIFT PLANNING'