John P. McGovern

John P. McGovern (June 2, 1921 - May 31, 2007) was an American allergist, investor and philanthropist. He established the McGovern Allergy Clinic in Houston, Texas, created the Texas Allergy Research Foundation and the John P. McGovern Foundation, and co-founded the American Osler Society. He is the name sake of the John P. and Katherine G. McGovern Medical School.

Education He received his B.S. in Medicine from Duke University in 1943 and received his M.D. from the Duke University School of Medicine in 1945.

He did post-graduate training at Yale-New Haven Hospital, McGuire Hospital and at Duke.

At Yale-New Haven Hospital, he was a pediatric intern from July 1945 to June 1946. Then, he served from 1946 to 1948 in the Medical Corps of the United States Army as Captain and as the chief of the paraplegic section.

In 1956, McGovern founded an allergy clinic in Houston known as the McGovern Allergy & Asthma Clinic. As of 2025, the clinic remains operational.

Philanthropy In 1961, McGovern established the John P. McGovern Foundation as a private philanthropy.

Notable contributions John P. McGovern Museum of Health and Medical Science in Houston, Texas

In 1998, the foundation gave $6.5M to establish the McGovern-Davison Children’s Health Center at Duke. The center was co-named for McGovern and his mentor, Wilburt Cornell Davison. In 2001, McGovern gave $5 million to the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) to create endowments for 5 William Osler Scholars, forming the John P. McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine. The endowments award practicing faculty physicians for their commitment to teaching, practicing and emulating the principals of compassionate care. In November 2015, the Foundation donated $75M to bolster medical training, provide full scholarships, and support scientific discovery and innovation at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. It has been the single largest gift from the John P. McGovern Foundation. In honor of the largest gift in university history, the medical school was renamed the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School. The endowment will also support the school's McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics which was established from an earlier foundation gift. In January 2017, the foundation gave $20 million to the University of Houston College of the Arts to create a permanent endowment that will benefit arts students and faculty, as well as community outreach. The Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts will be the first college at the university named after a former student and also the first named after a woman.

Awards McGovern is the recipient of 29 honorary degrees.

McGovern was named as a fellow to various scientific and medical organizations including the American Association of Pediatrics (1952), the American Association of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (1955, Distinguished Fellow in 1971), American Medical Writers Association (1967), American College of Physicians (1971), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1972), Royal College of Physicians (honorary, 1984) and the American Society of Addiction Medicine (1998).

In 1976, McGovern was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Duke University. President Reagan Private Sector Initiative Commendation (1985) Distinguished Service Award from the International Council on Alcohol and Addictions (ICAA) L'Ordre National du Merite (France) in 1988 John P. McGovern Science and Society Award, Sigma Xi. John P. McGovern Award in Science, Literature, Arts and the Humanities - Cosmos Club (Lecture). John P. McGovern Champion of Health Award. John P. McGovern Award on Addiction and Society (ASAM).