Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Dr. Jacobs Bestowed With High Honors

Dr. Richard F. Jacobs (right), formerly of Gurdon, and his wife, Penni, are shown with Dean Dodd Wilson, M.D., and W.T. Dungan, M.D., as he is honored with the Distinguished Faculty Award for 1997 during a 1997 College of Medicine Banquet.

Everyone remembers a special physician whose on-going contributions have made a tremendous difference in the community and field of work.

One such a special physician -- internationally prominent Richard F. Jacobs, M.D., a professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Disease/Immunology at the UAMS College of Medicine; the chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Arkansas Children's Hospital; and the Horace C. Cabe Professor of Pediatrics -- was honored with the Distinguished Faculty Award for 1997 as more than 200 guests attended the recognition banquet.

Dr. Jacobs has held important positions in national societies and at the National Institute of Health. An excellent teacher, he received the Gold Apple Award twice and was runner-up seven more times.

Medical students have recognized him as "most honored faculty" every year since the Red Sash Award was instituted in 1983.

He was chosen as the honors' convocation speaker by the medical school classes of 1986, 1987 and 1988, and twice pediatric residents have recognized thim as "Teacher of the Year." His peers recognized him as one of the four best doctors in America selected from the state of Arkansas.

Since time is the most valuable thing a man can give, giving both knowledge and time is the definition of a generous person, so said the pediatric Royal Society in the Philippines.

The members gave Dr. Jacobs their highest honor, because Dr. Jacobs gave one month each year for ten years to serve as a visiting professor at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, The Phillipines. Each year, he worked long hours in the Philippines, both in the classroom and hospitals, and with the policy and regulatory agency to establish similar programs as those at Arkansas Children's Hospital.

A native of Gurdon, Dr. Jacobs graduated from Henderson State University, summa cum laude, and received his medical degree from the UAMS College of Medicine in 1977, Alpha Omega Alpha, and completed his two-year pediatric infectious disease fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle in 1982.

He is the author of more than 150 publications and is a member of nine professions. He has served as consultant to the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Infectious Diseases regarding the area of tuberculosis in children and served on the Tuberculosis Statement Committee for the American Thoracic Society, Centers for Disease Control.

Dr. Jacobs' wife, Penni, attended the banquet.

Other doctors were also honored at the banquet.