UT Tyler School of Medicine Student Recognized for Commitment to Community

October 24, 2025 | Elizabeth Wingfield

GVA Real Estate Group selected Tony Phan, a third-year medical student at The University of Texas at Tyler, to receive the Alan Stalcup scholarship for commitment to education, service and community impact.

A U.S. Air Force veteran and first-generation college graduate, Phan exemplifies the scholarship’s mission to honor the pursuit of lasting change. He is the founder of Prescribing Smiles and Courage to Care, two initiatives that promote holistic care and veteran-centered health education. Earlier this year, his TEDx talk, “Prescribing Smiles: Turning Pain into Purpose,” emphasized resilience and compassion in health care.

“The UT Tyler School of Medicine has created such a supportive environment for students to grow and give back,” said Phan. “The school really encourages us to think beyond the classroom and find meaningful ways to serve our communities. I’m grateful for opportunities like this scholarship, which highlight the impact UT Tyler School of Medicine students can make both here in East Texas and beyond.”

GVA Real Estate Group, founded by Alan Stalcup, is a national real estate investment firm headquartered in Austin. The Alan Stalcup Scholarship is one of several philanthropic initiatives Stalcup leads through GVA and the Stalcup Family Foundation, which support global and local causes including education, child protection and workforce development.

With a mission to improve educational and health care outcomes for East Texas and beyond, UT Tyler offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 11,500 students. Through its alignment with UT Tyler Health Science Center and UT Health East Texas, UT Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national university, UT Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.