TIRR Memorial Hermann is a teaching hospital for Baylor College of Medicine and University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Spencer was involved in developing the physiograph, a device recognized in the March 22, 1954 issue of Life magazine for its ability to record vital functions.

It was also in the 1960s that William Spencer recruited a number of visionary physicians from several different disciplines who had appointments in numerous academic departments but spent significant amounts of their clinical and research time at the relatively small building at the rear of the then rapidly enlarging and expanding Texas Medical Center.

A young ear nose and throat specialist, Bobby Alford was still in his residency, performed many bronchoscopies needed for the polio and cystic fibrosis patients.

TIRR Memorial Hermann is the primary training site for the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation residency program at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, McGovern Medical School.

The ILRU program at TIRR Memorial Hermann is led by Lex Frieden, a chairperson of the board of the National Council on Disability (NCD) and president of Rehabilitation International.