Jacob / Jennings





Norman H. Jacob, Jr., MD (1967)


Background
Dr. Norman Henry Jacob, Jr. was born in Yorktown, Texas on September 4, 1920 to Ella Peters and Norman Henry Jacob, Sr. Dr. Jacob had a brother who died of a brain tumor around the time that Dr. Jacob was going to leave for college. He decided to remain with his parents for a year to work and save money before pursuing medicine.

Dr. Jacob met Alice Paul Tyson while doing his rotating internship in San Antonio, Texas. They were married in 1946 and had four children, Linda, Carol, Mark, and Paula.

Dr. Jacob died on December 14, 2009 in San Antonio.

Medical Education & Practice

In 1939, Dr. Jacob attended Texas Lutheran College as a pre-med student. He graduated cum laude in 1940, and then went to The University of Texas in Austin. He worked while in school, but continued to perform well academically. He was elected to Alpha Epsilon Delta, the university’s pre-health honor society and completed his academic work in 1941.

After graduation, Dr. Jacob joined the Army Reserve but was deferred for academic reasons. He was accepted into The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and for the following three years, he was on special assignment by the military as a Private First Class in the Army until his graduation in June, 1945 when he was commissioned as First Lieutenant in the Army Reserve.

Dr. Jacob began a general rotating internship at the Santa Rosa Medical Center in San Antonio in 1945, the same year that he met Alice. After completing his internship, he was placed on active duty as a Captain and assigned to the Veterans’ Administration Hospital in Wadsworth, Kansas. While there, he became interested in pathology, and stayed an extra year to complete his residency.

Dr. Jacob then did a residency in Minnesota at the recommendation of Dr. Helwig, who he had met in Wadsworth. After three years in Minnesota, Dr. Jacob and his family moved back to San Antonio where he began practicing at Santa Rosa Medical Center. While there he served a term as chief of staff. He was board certified in clinical pathology in 1953 and was appointed clinical professor of pathology at The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio where he worked with students who did their residencies at Santa Rosa Medical Center.

Dr. Jacob was an active member of Bexar County Medical Society, serving on its executive committee, blood bank committee, and tumor registry. He served as a delegate to the College of Pathologists and as chairman of the board of South Texas Regional Blood Bank. Dr. Jacob also worked with the Texas Society for Medical Technology where he helped develop the Travelling Seminars Team.

Dr. Jacob remained head of the laboratory at N. H. Jacob & Associates at Santa Rosa until he retired in 1987.

Texas Society of Pathologists

Dr. Jacob became a member of the TSP in 1953 and served on many of its committees, most notably on the Medical Technology Committee.

He served as president of the TSP in 1968 and was active in the development of direct patient billing for the professional component of the laboratory tests, which involved a complete change in the way hospitals and pathologists worked together. He worked closely with Blue Cross or Blue Shield to honor bills directed to patients for the laboratory component.

Notable Publication(s)

Jacob Jr, N. H. (1962). Relationship of phenolic acid excretion to tumors of neural crest origin. Texas state journal of medicine, 58, 893-896.



Frank L. Jennings, MD (1975)


Background
Dr. Frank Lamont Jennings, known as Lamont by his friends, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1921 and grew up in a Minnesota suburb. He and his parents eventually moved to Indiana where he attended Indiana University.

Dr. Jennings passed away on July 15, 2006 in Ohio.

Medical Education & Practice

Dr. Jennings graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1947 and was awarded the Atomic Energy Commission Fellowship at the University of Chicago where he studied pathologies related to radiation injury. He served a rotating internship and did a four-year residency, and in 1955, he became board certified in anatomic pathology.

Also in 1955, Dr. Jennings was drafted into the military, and was assigned to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. During this time, Dr. Jennings conducted several studies on the effects of radiation exposure and worked with the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission on the review of radiation injuries to the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In 1957, he became one of several members of the medical team that was sent to Frenchman Flats in Nevada for atomic bomb tests. Later that year, he returned to the University of Chicago as assistant professor in the Department of Pathology.

Dr. Jennings joined the pathology department at The University of Texas Medical Branch in 1960 at the invitation of Drs. Howard Hopps and Kenneth Earle.  He served as section chief of surgical pathology. In 1963 he was promoted to professor and chairman of the Department of Pathology. While at UTMB, he continued his research on the pathologic effects of radiation and expanded his studies to protein metabolism and tumor growth. Notably, Dr. Jennings spearheaded the formation of the Galveston County medical examiner’s system which allowed bodies to be examined in Galveston rather than being sent to Harris County. Additionally, Dr. Jennings severed on the Board of Governors for the College of American Pathologists.

In 1977, Dr. Jennings left Texas to head the pathology department at a new medical school at Wright State University in Ohio.

Texas Society of Pathologists
Dr. Jennings served as president of the TSP in 1975 and received the George T. Caldwell, MD Award in 1976 for his contributions to the field of pathology.

Notable Publication(s)

Dr. Jennings wrote several reviews on radiology texts for the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Jennings, F. L. (1949). Effect of protein depletion upon susceptibility of rats to total body irradiation. Experimental Biology and Medicine, 72(2), 487-491.
Jennings, F. L. (1952). Comparison of parenteral and oral protein feeding on radiation susceptibility in protein-depleted rat. Experimental Biology and Medicine, 80(1), 10-13.