W. Neal Kocurek earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph. D., degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. While he was a student at UT, Kocurek was a member of Eta Kappa Nu (the engineering honor society), a member of the UT Friar Society, and President of the Silver Spurs. He is Cockrell School Distinguished Engineering Graduate.
After graduation, Kocurek 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 Kocurek’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 and imbued all six Partnership hospitals with the charitable mission of St. David’s. As a result of his vision and leadership, the St. David’s Healtcare Foundation is now the second largest donor to the Austin community (behind only the Dell Foundation). After his death, St. David’s Healtcare Foundation established the W. Neal Kocurek Scholarship in his honor. The scholarship is $7,500 per year for up to 8 years. Because Kocurek was a big supporter of public education and loved the State of Texas, the scholarship recipient must attend a public university in the State of Texas. To date, the W. Neal Kocurek Scholarship has helped pay for the education of 217 UT students. The scholarship committee awards around 55 scholarships each year.
Kocurek had a profound role in shaping the direction of the Central Texas region in many dimensions: health care, public education, higher education, technology, business, economic development, philanthropy, youth sports, 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.
Kocurek was a driving force behind the Indigent Care Collaborative that coordinates health care for the poor among all providers in the region. Through St. David’s, Kocurek also initiated The Theo Project, a program providing free dental care to more than 7,000 children in Austin each year. He was the inspiration behind The Root Cause Project, an innovative project addressing the root causes of health problems in Austin. He was president of the Austin Area Research Organization for two years. For over 30 years, he served on Austin’s Electric Utility Commission. A natural mentor, Kocurek was an advisor to generations of school superintendents and educators who served Austin children. He was deeply involved in planning the future of the University of Texas and served on the executive committee of UT’s Commission of 125. Kocurek was also involved with Austin Community College, People’s Community Clinic, Austin Technology Incubator, Austin Area Urban League, and the Texas Institute for Health Policy Research, among others. Kocurek’s service awards included Austinite of the Year in 1989, 360 Summit Civic Entrepreneur of the Year, the first honorary degree awarded by Leadership Austin, the Distinguished Service Medal by the Mayor of Austin, the Leadership in Regionalism Award by the Capital Area Planning Council, and Austin’s Most Worthy Citizen in 2002.
