Shiloff Family Builds on Legacy of Educational Opportunity
Family foundation announces major gift to expand scholarship support for future healthcare professionals at annual Season of Thanks celebration
Robert Shiloff understood what it meant for the cost of higher education to stand between a student and an opportunity.
Today, his son, Stuart Shiloff, and his wife, Nancy, are carrying that belief forward. During Texas Tech Health El Paso’s annual Season of Thanks celebration Monday, Nov. 9, they announced a $250,000 gift through The Shiloff Family Foundation to expand scholarship opportunities for students at the university.
Texas Tech Health El Paso will match the gift dollar for dollar, bringing the total investment in student scholarships to $500,000. The annual Season of Thanks brings together scholarship recipients and the donors whose generosity helps make their education possible.
Approximately 300 donors and scholars gathered on the university campus Monday to celebrate the role philanthropy plays in preparing the next generation of healthcare professionals. Texas Tech Health El Paso is home to the Foster School of Medicine, Hunt School of Nursing, Francis Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Hunt School of Dental Medicine.
"My parents held a deep conviction that no student with talent, intelligence and determination should be kept from a higher education by financial hardship," Stuart Shiloff said.
Growing up in Sioux City, Iowa, as the son of a single mother, Robert wanted to attend college, but the cost of living on campus put higher education out of reach. That changed when an aunt and uncle in Houston offered him a place to live, allowing him to enroll at the University of Houston. While attending, he also worked as a bookkeeper for a scrap iron and metal business.
He became the first person in his family to graduate from college.
That experience stayed with Robert throughout his life and shaped a belief he shared with his wife, Sara: Financial hardship should not stand in the way of a student’s education.
The gift builds on the Shiloff family’s relationship with Texas Tech Health El Paso that began more than a decade ago. The Shiloff Family Foundation, founded by Robert and Sara Shiloff, established the Robert and Sara Shiloff Endowed Scholarship Fund at the university in 2015 to support students pursuing their education.
For Stuart, continuing that work is about carrying forward the priorities his parents established through the foundation.
"It's what our foundation is all about now," he said. "Carrying on what mattered to my parents, and since funding scholarships was the first thing we did after we formed, we know it was one of their top priorities."
An Opportunity Made Possible by Education
Stuart remembers his father considering himself fortunate while also believing strongly in the value of hard work.
"My dad always considered himself lucky, but he also liked to say that the harder you work, the more luck you have," Stuart said.
Sara shared that commitment to education. Stuart said his mother believed education was a key to success and better career opportunities, and she took particular joy in seeing scholarship recipients thrive.
Those values became central to The Shiloff Family Foundation and continue through Stuart and Nancy's support today.
For Robert and Sara, however, a scholarship represented more than helping a student earn a degree. They hoped the opportunity would ultimately benefit the community they called home.
"It is our hope — and my parents' hope — that students who graduate from the Foster School of Medicine decide to practice here in El Paso," Stuart said. "My parents loved this city and all the students that they met. They always hoped they would succeed here and someday decide to give back to the city that helped them."
A Season of Giving Back
The inspiration for the Shiloff family's latest commitment can be traced directly to the same celebration one year ago.
At the 2025 Season of Thanks, Dionicio "Manny" Alvarez, M.D., and his wife, Alice announced an additional gift to support medical student scholarships. The university matched their gift dollar for dollar.
Watching that commitment inspired Stuart and Nancy to consider how The Shiloff Family Foundation could build on Robert and Sara's legacy.
"They would have done this years ago if they knew that Texas Tech Health El Paso would match their gift in a scholarship endowment," Stuart said. "That's why when we saw Dr. Manny Alvarez and his wife Alice make this kind of commitment at last year's luncheon, we knew that this is something my parents would be proud of doing."
For Stuart, imagining his parents' reaction to the new commitment isn't difficult.
"They would also say, 'Give us a couple of years and we'll want to do it again,'" he said.
For Jaharia Morales, a GECU Foundation Scholar in the Hunt School of Nursing’s Class of 2027, scholarship support provides more than financial assistance. It gives her the peace of mind to focus on her education and the kind of nurse she hopes to become.
“Nursing isn’t just a job for me; it’s something bigger. It’s about caring,” Morales said. “This scholarship gives me a sense of relief and the peace of mind to focus on my studies and becoming the best version of myself. I feel really blessed to have been given this opportunity.”
The new gift ensures that Robert and Sara Shiloff's belief in the power of education will continue creating opportunities for future generations — and that students who benefit from their generosity will have an opportunity to carry that same spirit of service forward in El Paso.
About Texas Tech Health El Paso
Texas Tech Health El Paso serves West Texas and is dedicated to preparing the next generation of healthcare professionals. Established as an independent university in 2013, Texas Tech Health El Paso is a uniquely innovative destination for medical, nursing, biomedical sciences and dental education.
Focusing on excellence in healthcare education, research, and clinical service, Texas Tech Health El Paso has graduated more than 2,600 professionals over the past decade. For more information, visit ttuhscepimpact.org.