The Fight Against COVID-19

Elizabeth "Betsy" Sauer, BBA '66, a Houston native, often referred to Austin as "her place." She considered the four years that she spent at The University of Texas at Austin to be the best years of her life. Her estate is helping in the fight against the coronavirus.

In crafting the details of her will, Betsy's intention was to make certain that it honored her brother Henry Sauer, Jr., BBA '62 and JD '64, and sister-in-law Judy Sauer, BA '64, with gifts to areas of study she knew meant the most to each of them. Her gift in recognition of Henry provides to the School of Law. Her gift commemorating Judy was directed to the College of Natural Sciences and was used to establish The Sauer Laboratory for Structural Biology.

In February, UT researchers made a breakthrough toward developing a coronavirus vaccine when they created the first 3D atomic-scale map of the part of the virus — the spike protein — that infects human cells. This engineered protein is being used in a potential vaccine that is going through the Phase II trial process. Critical to these breakthroughs is the state-of-the-art technology known as cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) in UT Austin's new Sauer Lab.

Jason McLellan, associate professor at UT Austin who led the research, said, "We ended up being the first ones in part due to the infrastructure at the Sauer Lab. It highlights the importance of funding basic research facilities."

"The gift from Betsy has the potential to change the future of medicine," Judy said. "The gift has also given me and my husband a connection to the university that means so much to us."