UT Celebrates Life of Joe R. Long, Distinguished Alumnus and Transformative Philanthropist

Joe R. Long, who received two degrees from The University of Texas at Austin and through his and his wife's philanthropy made a huge impact on their alma mater, died Oct. 7 at age 96. Long's influential wife, Teresa Lozano Long, died in 2021. The couple made transformational impacts in the College of Liberal Arts, College of Fine Arts, School of Law and College of Education, among other areas.

Long was born in San Antonio 1930 and grew up in Sonora, Oakwood and Centerville, Texas, where he graduated from high school in 1947. He attended Tarleton State University and graduated from UT in 1951 with a B.A. in government and a minor in history and anthropology. An ROTC cadet, upon graduation, he was immediately called into the service during the Korean War.
 
After returning, he worked as a salesman of cash registers and then bandages and adhesive tape. He taught high school in Alice, Texas, for a year, then studied law at UT, earning his degree in 1958.

Long worked for the State Securities Board as an investigator before becoming an assistant attorney general in 1963. In 1965, Long entered private law practice in Austin, specializing in banking, savings and loan, insurance and securities law. Long was part of a group that organized two banks in Austin, First State Bank and Community National Bank. He became chairman and bought control of both banks. Later, he acquired many more banks and in 1989 consolidated them all under the name of First State Bank. He was chairman and CEO until 1998, when the bank was sold to what is now Wells Fargo & Company. 

After 2000, he devoted much of his time to philanthropy. That year, Long surprised his wife by donating $10 million to UT's Institute of Latin American Studies, whereupon it became the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, known as LLILAS. In 2011, the institute would establish a collaborative partnership with the world-famous Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, creating LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections.  

Long's philanthropic support has been instrumental in endowing faculty positions, including that of renowned pianist Anton Nel and a chair in cello, currently held by Bion Tsang, and in providing critical funding for the Miró Quartet, as well as a scholarship in piano and an endowed internship in Landmarks, UT's public arts program.

At UT's Blanton Museum of Art, the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Grand Foyer honors the couple's efforts to grow the museum's commitment to Latin American art, including their gift of Diego Rivera's landmark painting “Picos con naranja.”

In 2023, Long gave the College of Education $3 million, honoring his late wife's deep connection to the college and her longstanding commitment to young people and education. The college's Student Services Center was named for her, and the Teresa Lozano Long Endowed Scholarship and the Teresa Lozano Long Endowed Graduate Fellowship were established. The Long Foundation was also a longtime supporter of the University's Literacy First Program.

He was a trustee of the University of Texas Law School Foundation and established the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Career Launch Program, making it financially possible for recent graduates of the School of Law to get legal work experience in unpaid internships while awaiting bar results and looking for permanent employment.

Long received the two highest honors available to alumni, the Texas Exes' Distinguished Alumnus Award (2000) and, alongside wife Teresa, the Presidential Citation Award (2010).

In 2018, the UT System bestowed the Santa Rita Award, its highest honor, on the Longs, who at that time had given approximately $100 million to UT Austin, UT Health San Antonio, and UT Rio Grande Valley, creating numerous scholarships, faculty chairs and professorships, and programmatic funds in numerous disciplines including medicine, law, business, education, pharmacy, music and art.

Beyond UT Austin, the Longs supported dozens of other universities and colleges in the UT System across the state as well as arts and educational organizations, making them a fitting embodiment of the University's slogan, “What starts here changes the world.”