St. David's Foundation in memory of Dr. W. Neal Kocurek

Dr. W. Neal Kocurek, born at St. David’s Hospital in 1936 to Maurine and Willie I. Kocurek. At 17, Neal was salutatorian of his class at Austin High School, while his father was president of the Austin ISD Board of Trustees. Neal earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph. D., degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He became an early employee of Tracor, Inc., and was subsequently involved in the founding of two successful technical services and products companies, Unitech, Inc. and Radian International LLC. Radian grew from a group of engineers who met in Neal’s living room to a firm with offices worldwide. In 1998, he retired from Radian and assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of St. David’s Health Care System. In his years with St. David’s, he transitioned the St. David’s Medical Center into the St. David’s Partnership. Dr. Kocurek had a profound role in shaping the direction of the Central Texas region in many dimensions: health care, public education, higher education, transportation, water, social equity, and regional stewardship. He was attracted to long-range challenges that required years of dedicated effort. Without Neal, Austin would not have the St. David’s Partnership, the Convention Center, the West Austin Youth Association, State Highway 130, Envision Central Texas, or the Austin History Center building.