With a sizable donation from Houston philanthropists Jane and Robert Cizik, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, or UTHealth, renamed one of its schools Wednesday.

The newly christened Jane and Robert Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth honored its namesakes at a ceremony attended by staff and students. The school is located in the Texas Medical Center at 6901 Bertner Ave., Houston.

"We are so humbled to have the nursing school named for us," said Jane Cizik, who also praised the work and bedside manner of staff and students.

The Ciziks contributed $25 million to the school, which UTHealth President Dr. Giuseppe Colasurdo said was the largest in the school's history. He described the Cizik name as synonymous with giving, as the couple have contributed to several institutions of higher education around the country.

"[The name] is all over this community. It's all over the country," Colasurdo said. "We'll carry this name forever."

The school offers bachelors, masters and doctorate certifications. Nursing and nurse anesthesiology courses are offered, which Dean Lorraine Frazier, Ph.D., R.N., said would be critical as a shortage of nurses is expected to grow.

"You're going to impact the future in profound ways," Frazier said to the honorees. "You know nursing has never been more important and it has never been more challenging."

Currently, the majority of nursing school students at UTHealth come from the Greater Houston area. See the breakdown of student residences, according to data from UTHealth: