M.T. “Pepper” Jenkins, M.D.*

M.T. “PEPPER” JENKINS, M.D.

M.T. “Pepper” Jenkins, M.D. was installed as the 1972 President of the American Society of
Anesthesiologists at the final session of the House of Delegates, Wednesday, October 20, at the
Regency Hyatt House Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, during the ASA Annual Meeting.

Dr. Jenkins, widely known in the scientific community by his nickname, “Pepper,” is Professor
and Chairman, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical
School, Dallas. He also serves as Chief of Anesthesiology at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Texas
Scottish Rite Hospital for Crippled Children, Children’s Medical Center, and Dallas Veterans
Administration Hospital.

He is also Consultant in Anesthesiology at Baylor University Medical Center, Presbyterian
Hospital, Methodist Hospital, and St. Paul Hospital, all in Dallas, and Lackland Air Force Base
Hospital, San Antonio.

Dr. Jenkins has served the ASA as 1st Vice President and as chairman of several committees. He
has also been an ASA representative to the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists,
the Council of Medical Specialty Societies and the AMA’s Section Council on Anesthesiology.

A Fellow of the American College of Anesthesiologists since 1957, he has served as a member
of its Board of Governors. He is a past president of the Association of University Anesthetists
and the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists. He has been Chairman of the Section on
Anesthesiology, Southern Medical Association.

Born in Hughes Springs, Texas, Dr. Jenkins received his B.A. degree from the University of
Texas in Austin. He completed his medical education at the University of Texas Medical Branch,
Galveston, and interned at the University of Kansas Hospital, Kansas City.

After taking an assistant residency in internal medicine at John Sealy Hospital, Galveston, Dr.
Jenkins went on active duty with the U.S. Navy Reserve, serving from 1942 to 1946. On his
release from the service, Dr. Jenkins took a residency in general surgery at Parkland Hospital,
Dallas. This was followed by a residency in anesthesiology at Massachusetts General Hospital,
Boston.

Upon completion of his residency training, Dr. Jenkins was appointed Chief of the Department
of Anesthesiology at Parkland Hospital and while in this position was made professor of
anesthesiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. In these positions in
Dallas, he has been largely responsible for making the city one of the major centers of anesthesia
training and research. In 1966 he was designated the first holder of the Margaret Milan
McDermott Chair of Anesthesiology by the University of Texas Board of Regents.

Dr. Jenkins is an honorary member of the Australian Society of Anaesthetists and Corresponding
Fellow of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1968, he was elected
to Fellowship of the Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Dr. Jenkins is the author of three books and more than 40 articles on the specialty.

ASA Newsletter. 1971;35(11).