Rice University Consulting Surgeon for Rice Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Jack G. Brannon
Date
undated ca. 1980sDescription
Black and white photograph of consulting surgeon for Rice Intercollegiate Athletics Doctor Jack G. Brannon, accompanied by text headlining his achievement and entry into the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame. Caption reads: It is rare that Rice honors an individual for membership in its Athletic Hall of Fame who was not an Owl or a Rice grad, but no one disputes this man’s place within this group. Dr. Jack Brannon has served Rice University for almost half a century with his skills and devotion in his official role as Consulting Surgeon for Rice Intercollegiate Athletics. It all began when Jack Brannon, just out of medical school (Baylor M.D. in 1937) began an internship at Hermann Hospital in Houston on July 1, 1937. Jack was a native of Bastrop, where he was born May 14, 1913. He was a sports fan from his early youth, and played frosh football as a center while at the University of Texas, where he graduated in 1933. Rice maintained some rooms at Hermann Hospital when needed for injured athletes, and early on as an intern he got to know and help treat Owl athletes. Soon after Jess Neely replaced Jimmy Kitts as head grid coach in 1940, his status became official when he became an associate of Dr. Hugh C. Welsh, then Rice team physician. For 20 years he served without pay as he joined Dr. Welsch in the care of all students, and also attended most practices and games of the teams. After going into private practice on his own, Dr. Brannon continues serving Rice athletes on into 1986, working with Dr. Ed T. Smith, who also is a rare non-Owl athlete in the Hall of Fame. The number of Rice athletes who have come to know Dr. Brannon at Rice runs in the thousands. He has been a mentor and confidant of student trainers for the late Eddie Wojecki and for Allen Eggert for many years. Until slowed by a recent illness, Dr. Brannon ran a daily “sick call” at the training room after retiring from his private practice. At various times he served on the staff of Hermann, Methodist, St. Joseph’s, St. Luke’s, and Texas Children’s Hospitals. He was a Clinical Instructor at Baylor Med and Texas Medical School of Houston. Dr. Brannon served four years with the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1942 to 1946 during and after World War II in England, France, and Belgium. He married the former Betty Ann Dionne of Houston in May of 1941 shortly before his wartime military service. They have a daughter, Mrs. Gay Ann Brannon Hatfield, and a son Jack Brannon, Jr. (a Rice grad). Perhaps the highest honor of his career came in June of 1983 when His Majesty King Olaf V of Norway bestowed the Knight’s Cross of the Royal Order of St. Olaf on him for his service to bettering international relations. He was made an Honorary “R” Man by the “R” Association in 1983 and now he becomes a member of the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame after virtually 50 years of loyal service to Rice and Owl athletics.
Citation
Abstract
Rice Athletic Hall of Fame
Keyword
Sports; Brannon, Jack G.; Sports medicine--Texas--Houston; Rice Athletic Hall of Fame; Rice University--History
Publisher
Citable link to this page
https://hdl.handle.net/1911/63922Metadata
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