The Julian C. Barton Regents Professorship in Nutrition was established by the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System on February 13, 1992, for the benefit of the College of Natural Sciences. The endowment honors Julian Cox Barton, M.D., of San Antonio, Texas, a 1925 graduate of The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts. He also attended the University of Texas Medical Branch and graduated with a medical degree in 1928.

After graduation, Barton decided to teach at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and stayed there for five years before starting his own practice in San Antonio in 1934. He practiced medicine for 52 years until his retirement. Barton was the first doctor of internal medicine in the United States and one of the first physicians in Texas to promote the use of penicillin. His leadership in nutrition, passion for aquatic nature, and dedication to science led Barton to leave a generous gift to UT Austin upon his death, with funds split to advance the efforts of the Department of Nutritional Sciences and the Marine Science Institute.

Revised on April 2018