For Marion T. Flores, expanding the possibilities of human health hasn’t just been a mission, it’s a lifelong dedication. Marion is a longtime friend of Southwestern Medical Foundation who has devoted herself tirelessly to advancing academic medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, championing both groundbreaking research and the brilliant minds whose passion and expertise drive it forward.
Her support spans more than four decades, including almost three decades of shared philanthropy with her late husband, Nash. Together, their giving benefited broad institutional priorities carried out through the President’s Research Council (PRC) and the President’s Fund, as well as initiatives such as the Zale Lipshy University Hospital Friends Campaign and other general-purpose contributions. In 2025, Marion joined The Wildenthal Society by establishing a charitable gift annuity through the Foundation to benefit neurodegenerative disease research at UT Southwestern. Her vision and generosity have empowered physician-scientists to explore bold ideas, translate knowledge into lifesaving treatments, and train the next generation of medical leaders.
“Marion has led a life marked by curiosity, service, and thoughtful generosity,” said Michael McMahan, President and CEO of Southwestern Medical Foundation. “Her support of UT Southwestern is one expression of a broader commitment to strengthening the institutions and ideas that help communities thrive. We are deeply grateful for the trust she has placed in the Foundation and for the meaningful legacy she is creating through her giving, both now and in the future.”
“Marion has led a life marked by curiosity, service, and thoughtful generosity.”
Michael McMahan
President & CEO, Southwestern Medical Foundation
A Life of Discovery
Marion, an only child, grew up in the small mountain town of Bradford in northwestern Pennsylvania, a safe and welcoming community, but her imagination always soared far beyond its quiet streets. She left Bradford to attend Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she studied philosophy and began to spread her wings.
After graduating from Wellesley in 1968, she married I.D. (Nash) Flores, a Texan she met at a Harvard Business School mixer. They moved to New York, where Nash worked on Wall Street and Marion pursued her studies at Columbia Business School. After earning her MBA in finance, she rose through the business ranks, becoming the first woman ever hired into Citibank’s corporate banking training program in New York City. But after just nine months in her position, Nash was offered an exciting investment banking opportunity in Dallas. Even after leaving her job to support her husband, she didn’t let relocation stall her career and was hired by the First National Bank of Dallas (now part of Bank of America), becoming its first woman commercial banker.
“I’ve been called a trailblazer,” she said, “but that was never my goal. I simply did what I wanted to do at just the right time, initially when businesses were first reluctantly opening their doors to women.”
Planting Roots in Texas
After settling in Dallas, Marion enjoyed a thriving career in finance, strategy and implementation consulting, and executive management as CFO, working in various companies including Booz Allen, Publicis, Vistas Unlimited, and SeatonHill.
“I love Dallas, and I often tell people it was a terrific city for women in business. Unlike cities like New York, Boston, or Philadelphia—where I once had to enter a men’s dining club through the back door—Dallas offered a much more open and welcoming business environment,” she said.
In the mid-1980s, she and Nash were drawn to the PRC, established to advance the work of promising young investigators at UT Southwestern. As founding members and co-presidents, the couple played a vital role in building the PRC’s foundation and connecting with UT Southwestern leadership and faculty, which dramatically expanded their understanding of medical research.
“For years, I don’t think I missed a single PRC lecture. The president would come to our meetings and talk about new research priorities and the brilliant people they planned to recruit to strengthen the school. And then, a year later, someone new would arrive—from places like Johns Hopkins, Harvard, or Stanford—just as promised. It was exciting to witness how intentionally they were building the institution,” she said.
Nash served as a Southwestern Medical Foundation Trustee from 2000-2013, and over time, the couple watched the medical center transform in remarkable ways.
“When I think about what UT Southwestern was in the 1980s compared to today, the difference is amazing. I felt it in the lectures we attended—the science was cutting-edge, the speakers were exceptional, and the presentations were delivered with clarity and quality,” she said.
Marion treasures the 45 years of marriage she shared with Nash and carries with her the memory of his stage IV pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2013. He underwent treatment at UT Southwestern and various other medical centers. On October 20, 2013, just weeks after celebrating his 70th birthday, he passed away. Motivated by her concern for her daughter, Whidden, Marion stays informed about the latest developments in pancreatic cancer. “The field of cancer research has been completely transformed over the past decade by immunotherapies,” she said. “Since Nash’s passing, UT Southwestern has grown tremendously and now has the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center dedicated to oncology. It’s a completely different landscape from what it was back then, and such growth was truly necessary.”
“I’ve been called a trailblazer, but that was never my goal. I simply did what I wanted to do at just the right time.”
Marion T. Flores
Member, The Wildenthal Society
Curiosity as a Compass
As a lifelong learner, Marion still finds great joy in discovering new horizons. She focuses her nonprofit activities on scientific research, the arts (Dallas Symphony Orchestra, TACA, The Nasher), and women’s issues, particularly education. She has served and still serves as a trustee on various prominent Dallas organizations and plays a vital role in advancing their missions through her investment of resources, time, and insight.
Her scientific interest spans Texas and Maine, where she serves on the advisory board for the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences near her summer home. “In talking with the team about development for the lab, I kept drawing on what I learned from the PRC as a model,” she said. “What I bring to nonprofits is a consulting mindset—looking at how things operate and finding ways to make them work better. That’s where I really add value, and now that I’m retired, I love feeling productive and making a difference.”
Life feels full, and she continues to cherish each day with her significant other, Frank Rees, sharing discoveries from reading, traveling, welcoming friends, and savoring time between Dallas and summers in Maine.
