2012 Outstanding Alumnus Award Winner
Dr. Jon H. Robertson was inspired to pursue a career in medicine after watching his older brother, Dr. James T. Robertson (UTHSC ’54), complete medical school and become a neurosurgeon. Already married with four children, Dr. Robertson began his neurosurgical residency at the UT Health Science Center in 1975 after spending two years as a general practice and emergency room physician at the City of Memphis Hospitals.
Although his parents never had the privilege of a college education, Dr. Robertson knew as a little boy growing on up on a farm in Independence, La., that he would go to college. He attended Southwestern College (now Rhodes) in Memphis, Tenn., receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1968. He graduated from the University of Tennessee Medical School in 1971.
Immediately following his residency training in neurosurgery in 1979, Dr. Robertson became a member of the Semmes-Murphey Neurologic and Spine Institute and an assistant professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the UT Health Science Center. He was promoted to associate professor in 1984 and, after serving a year as interim chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery, he assumed the role of chair in 1997.
Although he retired from UT in 2011, Dr. Robertson has continued his tenure as an affiliated faculty member. He continues to practice at Semmes-Murphey Clinic.
Naming his greatest strength as his work ethic, Dr. Robertson is dedicated to many professional organizations, including the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Society of University Neurosurgeons, and the Society of Neurological Surgeons. For more than two decades he has served as a board member of Semmes-Murphey Clinic and the Medical Education & Research Institute in Memphis. Dr. Robertson is also a published author, including the two books, Lasers in Neurosurgery and Cranial Base Surgery. He has published nearly 50 publications and 25 book chapters as co-author, and given approximately 200 presentations at meetings worldwide.
Married to Carol Ann for 45 years, Dr. Robertson is the proud father of five children and 12 grandchildren.
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