KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A former University of Kansas professor and his wife are donating $1 million to the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Keith and Laurie Tennant, of Vero Beach, Florida, say in a news release Tuesday that the gift is thanks for life-saving care Keith Tennant received at the medical center. The gift will go toward research at the medical center’s Cardiovascular Research Institute in Kansas City, Kansas.

Keith Tennant, now 72, underwent two heart surgeries at the medical center, the first when he was 46.

Both Tennants were faculty members at the university’s Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science. Keith Tennant was a professor from 2002 and department chair from 2002 to 2005 until he retired in 2012. Laurie Tennant taught in the department from 2002 to 2011.