Former students and friends endow scholarships honoring executive-in-residence Jack Buckley

Jack Buckley’s influential career in health care administration has spanned 50-plus years across the United States—and he is using that wide-ranging and well-developed network to support the mission of the Texas A&M University School of Public Health. Now a group of grateful admirers have returned the favor by endowing Jack Buckley, FACHE, MHA, Endowed Scholarships in honor of the school’s professor of practice and executive-in-residence, who is currently serving as the interim director of the school’s Master of Health Administration (MHA) Program.

The scholarship, established through the Texas A&M Foundation, was the brainchild of Phillip Robinson, LFACHE, also a professor of practice and executive-in-residence at the school.

“The MHA Alumni Association wanted to honor Jack Buckley’s almost 20-year commitment to the MHA program by endowing scholarships in his name for our students,” Robinson said. “Jack Buckley is all about the students, so there was no better way to honor him than by doing this.”

Robinson and the other organizers initially kept the fundraising campaign a secret.

“Jack is so humble we knew that he would not want us to do this as a tribute to him,” Robinson said, adding that once he found out, Buckley was grateful for the donors’ contributions. “We have now funded three endowed Buckley Scholars, and they have been awarded this fall—and we are well on our way to funding a fourth one, as well.”

A path into health care leadership

Buckley’s interest in medicine began during his boyhood in Illinois, and he seemed destined for medical school because of his affinity for biology and chemistry. However, his path changed after having a conversation with a fraternity brother during his undergraduate studies at Ohio’s Kenyon College.

“I asked my fraternity brother, ‘What are you going to do when we graduate a year from now?’ and he said, ‘I’m going to be a hospital administrator,’” Buckley recounted. “I realized as a junior that medicine wasn’t what I wanted to do for the next 10 years of study and 30-plus years of work—but I still wanted to find a way to use my biology and chemistry background in a broader way.”

After earning his undergraduate degree, Buckley pursued an MBA at The George Washington University before taking a residency and briefly working at Maricopa County General Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. His career in health care leadership led to him to work for numerous Catholic and not-for-profit health care organizations across the country, including: St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix (where he worked at two different times during his career); St. Anthony in Amarillo, Texas; Mercy Health in Cincinnati, Ohio; Southern Illinois Healthcare in Carbondale, Illinois; St. Mary’s in East St. Louis, Illinois; Via Christi in Wichita, Kansas; and St. Joseph’s Health System in Bryan, Texas.

His career—which included interactions with Pope John Paul II and other top leaders of the Catholic church—has received numerous accolades. Buckley was honored with the Bishop’s Award for work on behalf of the Diocese of Phoenix in Arizona, the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Award for work on behalf of the Diocese of Belleville in Illinois, and the Lumen gentium award for work on behalf of the Diocese of Austin. He also has received several awards from the American College of Healthcare Executives, including two Regent’s Awards, a Distinguished Service Award and an Exemplary Service Award.

Stepping into higher education

His involvement with Texas A&M’s School of Public Health emerged toward the end of his health care administrative career and shortly after the school was founded in 1998. Buckley semi-retired from Southern Illinois in 2001 and worked on an interim basis for several Catholic health systems before getting a call to assist Sr. Gretchen Kunz, OSF, at St. Joseph in Bryan.

Buckley ended up stepping into a permanent role of St. Joseph’s Regional Hospital CEO in 2003 and then held the role of president and CEO from 2005-2009. At the same time, Buckley also served as chair of the school’s Dean’s External Advisory Board from 2004-2010.

In 2009, Buckley joined the faculty as professor of practice in 2009 where he served as a lecturer and advisor and assisted with projects with the Texas A&M University Health Science Center (Texas A&M Health). Since 2015, Buckley has served as the practicum coordinator for the MHA program and taught courses in the residential and executive MHA programs. He also regularly coteaches a Mays Business School course entitled The Business of Healthcare.

Over the course of his time at Texas A&M, he has been impressed with the Aggie culture.

“The attitude and the values—RELLIS—makes it so special,” he said. “I see examples of how students live that out in taking care of working with each other. I see faculty and alumni doing the same things. They’re not twisting the rules or deviating from them, but just serving that student and their future organizations. That selfless service mindset makes all the difference in the world.”

Inspiring future health care leaders

Fittingly for someone who is so student-centered, Buckley’s scholarship is already making an impact on Aggies pursuing their master’s degree in health administration.

One of those students is Ryan La Turner ’26. The native of Duvall, Washington, who plans to focus on health care’s continuous improvement processes, said he decided to study health care administration “after experiencing firsthand how important good management is within a health care system. There is a lot to be proud of, but also tons that need fixing.”

Receiving the Buckley scholarship has made attending Texas A&M possible for La Turner.

“This scholarship means everything to me. Being from out of state, not only does this scholarship make it so I can afford coming to my choice school, but to do so without student debt,” said La Turner, who earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Utah State University. “This really is a blessing to me and has answered many of my wife’s and my prayers.”

Another Buckley Scholar, Kaylyn Smith ’24 ’27, is continuing her studies after earning her bachelor’s degree in public health from the school.

“It was fascinating to me how I would be learning about policy and management, environmental health, occupational safety, health behavior and epidemiology all in one major,” she said. “It shows that public health really encompasses the complex nature of our well-being and the future of health care and wellness for generations to come.”

Now early in her master’s program, the native of Vidor, Texas, is considering her options. She’s especially interested in learning more about improving the patient experience, but also is interested in human resources, hospital operations and business development.

Smith said that in addition to the financial relief that the scholarship brings, she appreciates being on a scholarship that honors such an impactful health care leader.

“Mr. Buckley is an inspiration and a wonderful role model to look up to,” she said. “The accomplishments and success Mr. Buckley has achieved in his life is so inspiring, and I appreciate all of the support and dedication he has to each of his students within the Master of Health Administration Program.”