Well-known and beloved University of Texas at Arlington professor and philanthropist Dr. Allan Saxe died Tuesday at the age of 85.

Saxe was a political science professor at UTA from 1965 to 2019.

Longtime friend and former Arlington mayor Richard Greene described Saxe’s incredible generosity.

“I said, ‘Allan, you’re giving away all of your money, I’m not sure you can support yourself and pay your monthly bills when you’re giving it all away,’” Greene said, reported The Dallas Morning News. “He said, ‘Well, there’s people who need it more than I do.’”

Saxe donated between $1.5 and $2.5 million to various causes throughout his life, per DMN. His philanthropy included founding the Arlington Life Shelter, which is “committed to assisting individuals and families impacted by homelessness in North Texas [to] create a path to self-sufficiency.”

After his mother died, Saxe reportedly donated his entire inheritance — $500,000 — to various charitable causes, reported DMN. Even before that remarkable gesture, Saxe had been known for many years for donating about half of his annual salary to charity.

UTA staff mourned the passing of one of the school’s “most beloved” teachers.

“For nearly six decades, Allan Saxe has been a Maverick institution — one of our best known and most beloved professors,” Jennifer Cowley, UTA president, posted on X.

“He was engaging, smart, funny, and opinionated, and his classes were considered can’t miss by generations of UT Arlington students. He was so popular that when our university magazine asked Mavericks a few years ago to share their favorite Allan Saxe memories, hundreds of alumni submitted entries. His legacy of overwhelming generosity and kindness is visible across our campus and our region — with parks, gardens, softball fields, patios, and traffic circles bearing his name. My condolences go out to his family and friends — of which he had many.

“We at UT Arlington are forever grateful that he made our campus his professional home for 54 years.”

Dr. Victoria Farrar-Myers, a colleague, said, “When I think of Arlington, Texas, I will always remember Allan Saxe. Not because he’s on every name or every place, but because he is part of the fabric that makes Arlington so special,” reported Fox 4 KDFW.