Thomas F. Burks II
April 3, 1938 - March 2, 2001
 Distinguished
UT-Houston Scientist and Academic Leader Thomas F. Burks Dies
HOUSTON: Thomas F. Burks II, Ph.D., executive vice president for research
and academic affairs at The University of Texas Health Science Center at
Houston and a professor of pharmacology at the university's Medical School,
died on March 2 in Denton while traveling on university business. He had
been participating in the annual meeting of the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board Research Executives when he apparently suffered a fatal
heart attack at his hotel.
Thomas F. Burks II, Ph.D.
"This is a tremendous loss for me personally and for the university as a
whole," said James T. Willerson, M.D., UT-Houston interim president. "Dr.
Burks was an unselfish, caring, dedicated man who made enormous
contributions to UT-Houston as an educator, scientist and administrative
leader. We shall miss him greatly, and we extend our deep concern and
sympathy to his family."
Willerson said there will be a memorial service for the university
community soon, and a scholarship fund will be established in Burks' name.
Burks, 62, was a distinguished research scientist who had served
UT-Houston as its chief academic officer since 1991. Burks came to The
University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center from the University of
Arizona College of Medicine, where he served as an associate dean for
research, and head and professor of the department of pharmacology. Prior to
his work in Arizona, Burks was a faculty member at UT-Houston from 1971 to
1977. He began his tenure at UT-Houston Medical School as an associate
professor of pharmacology. Later he was appointed professor of pharmacology.
Concurrently, he served as a member of the faculty of the Graduate School of
Biomedical Sciences. He was recipient of the university's first John Freeman
Award for Outstanding Teaching.
After receiving his postdoctoral training, Burks became assistant
professor of pharmacology in 1967 at the University of New Mexico School of
Medicine and was appointed associate professor in 1971. Burks received his
B.S. and M.S. degrees at the University of Texas-Austin and Ph.D. at the
University of Iowa College of Medicine. He conducted postdoctoral work at
the Laboratory of Neuropharmacology at the National Institute for Medical
Research in London, England.
He received multiple National Institutes of Health research grants in his
major areas of interest and expertise: central and peripheral neuropeptide
pharmacology; mechanisms of opioid actions; and gastrointestinal
pharmacology.
Burks had been leading preparations for the 14th World Congress of
Pharmacology in San Francisco in July 2002. The congress is the most
comprehensive gathering of pharmacological scientists in the world and is
conducted only every four years. He was selected president of the congress
by the host organization, the American Society for Pharmacology and
Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). Burks was president of ASPET in 1990 and
1991.
Burks is survived by his wife of 38 years, Dorothy Travis Burks, daughter
Kathleen Louise Burks and son Thomas Franklin Burks III, all of Houston;
parents Jerry Y. and Goldie M. Riley Burks; brothers Dr. Jerry Y. Burks, Jr.
and wife Angie, and Michael R. Burks and wife, Cindy.
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