University of Florida
University of Tennessee
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest School of Medicine. Photo: Allengot, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wake_Forest_School_of_Medicine_-_Bowman_Gray_Center_for_Medical_Education.jpg)
United States Navy
Florida State University. Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FSUWestcottBuilding.jpg)
University of Florida
University of Tennessee
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest School of Medicine. Photo: Allengot, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wake_Forest_School_of_Medicine_-_Bowman_Gray_Center_for_Medical_Education.jpg)
United States Navy
Florida State University. Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FSUWestcottBuilding.jpg)
educator epidemiologist physician retired preventive medicine educator
Thomas Joseph Brooks Jr. was born on May 23, 1916, in Starkville, Mississippi, and grew up in Tallahassee, Florida. His professional life combined medicine, epidemiology, tropical medicine, medical education, and public health. He maintained a longstanding connection with Mississippi through his leadership at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine and later consulting work with the Mississippi State Department of Health.
Brooks pursued a progressively advanced scientific and medical education. He earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida in 1937, a Master of Science from the University of Tennessee in 1939, and a Doctor of Philosophy in public health and tropical or parasitic diseases from the University of North Carolina in 1942. He completed his medical training at Wake Forest University, receiving the Doctor of Medicine in 1945. His academic development also included teaching fellowships in parasitology at the University of Tennessee and the University of North Carolina, a fellowship in tropical medicine at Louisiana State University, and an Alan Gregg fellowship in medical education supported by the China Medical Board of New York in 1968–1969.
Brooks began his academic career as an instructor in bacteriology and parasitology at the School of Medicine of Wake Forest University, serving from 1942 to 1945. After receiving his M.D., he completed an internship at Wake Forest University and North Carolina Baptist Hospital in 1945–1946. He then served as a U.S. Navy medical officer assigned to a Veterans Administration hospital from 1946 to 1947, followed by an appointment as an associate professor of pharmacology at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in 1947–1948. During the development of the medical center in Jackson, he served at Florida State University as chief physician and team doctor for its football program. He later held U.S. Navy responsibilities as officer in charge of a streptococcal-diseases research unit at a United States Naval Training Center from 1953 to 1955. From 1952 through 1981 he was professor and chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, and he also served as the school's first assistant dean during its formative years. After retiring from the university, he worked as a consultant to the Mississippi State Department of Health from 1981 to 2001. His work included epidemiological research, medical education, tropical medicine, communicable-disease studies, and the development of public-health programs. He held emeritus status after his academic career and remained active in professional and educational work.
Led the Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine as professor and chairman for nearly three decades.
Contributed to the development of the University of Mississippi Medical Center and served as the medical school's first assistant dean during its formative years.
Conducted and published epidemiological and public-health research, including a four-year tuberculosis case-finding and follow-up program among students at Florida State University.
Combined academic medicine, tropical medicine, epidemiology, military medicine, and public-health administration across a career lasting more than five decades.
(Historical article about the development of the Universit...)
2005(Authored research report published in Public Health Repor...)
1954(Co-authored with Louis F. Rittelmeyer Jr.; published in t...)
1959(Co-authored with T. J. Brooks; a discussion of balanced s...)
1949Brooks was a fellow of the Royal Society of Health in England and participated extensively in the American Public Health Association. His American Public Health Association service included work with the Committee on Communicable Diseases from 1968 to 1975, the nominating committee of the epidemiology section in 1975, the council of the International Health Division from 1978 to 1981, and chairmanship of a nominating committee. He was also a member of the Mississippi Public Health Association, Omicron Delta Kappa, and Sigma Xi. At the University of Tennessee, he belonged to the honorary Biological Society and served as its president in 1938–1939.
Fellow.
Royal Society of Health , United Kingdom
Served on the Committee on Communicable Diseases from 1968 to 1975, the epidemiology section nominating committee in 1975, the International Health Division council from 1978 to 1981, and as chairman of a nominating committee.
American Public Health Association , United States
1968 - 1981
Mississippi Public Health Association , United States
President, 1938–1939.
University of Tennessee Honorary Biological Society , United States
1938 - 1939
Omicron Delta Kappa , United States
Sigma Xi , United States
Brooks was described as having broad intellectual interests beyond medicine and as an active, curious educator who continued learning and professional engagement throughout a long life.
Quotes from others about the person
He was remembered by the University of Mississippi Medical Center as a renowned epidemiologist, a long-serving professor of preventive medicine, and an inspiring example of sustained intellectual curiosity and dedication to education.
Brooks was associated with the founding and early development of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. He was described as the last surviving member of the original faculty recruited from the medical school's Oxford campus to establish the Jackson medical center. His documented immediate family relationships include his mother, Lelia, and his father, Thomas.
