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.