He was always there, quietly doing his job, seeing clinical patients, and all the while seeking ways to teach, enhance resident education, and improve patient care.

With the passing of Gary E. Ackerman, M.D., on June 16, 2019, the Department lost a gentle man, colleague, patient advocate, and teacher – a man whose innate sense of service benefited UT Southwestern, Parkland Memorial Hospital, and the community at large. Dr. Ackerman could always be counted on to step up and help out. This ethic extended beyond UT Southwestern and Parkland to his country. While many fulfilled their military obligation and retired, Dr. Ackerman retired and joined the U.S. Army Reserves. In 1990, he was deployed to Germany during the first Gulf War, Operation Desert Shield. When duty called, Dr. Ackerman was there to serve.

Graduating from Columbia University with a Degree in Pharmacy in 1968, Dr. Ackerman earned his Medical Degree from the State University of New York, Down State Medical Center College of Medicine in 1972. Before serving two years of active duty in the Army Medical Corps at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, he completed an internship and residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. In 1978, a reproductive endocrinology fellowship under the direction of Dr. Paul MacDonald brought Dr. Ackerman to Dallas; and he never left. He joined the faculty in 1980 and rose to the rank of Professor in 2002.

As Dr. Ackerman completed his fellowship, the medical practice of fertility was in its infancy, and artificial insemination was the most common treatment in use at the time. The 1978 birth of the first test tube baby in England brought awareness and increased demand for fertility services. When the faculty member who was spearheading the UT Southwestern fertility program left the University, Dr. Ackerman stepped in to develop the “male component” of the fertility service – a sperm bank. Before the Department hired its first fertility lab director, it was Dr. Ackerman, who – according to Clare Edman, M.D., a senior faculty colleague and mentor – “stepped in, took charge of, enhanced, and developed the male infertility components of our infertility services. He alone was responsible for the development of the sperm bank program.” And, thus, the Department’s fledgling fertility program was launched.

In 1988, Dr. Ackerman became Medical Director for the new Women’s Intermediate Care Center (ICC) at Parkland Memorial Hospital — a position he held until 2006. Previously known as the Obstetrics and Gynecology Emergency room, the ICC was one of the few emergency facilities in the United States dedicated solely to the treatment of women. The role fit Dr. Ackerman like a glove, combining his passion for women’s reproductive health with his advocacy for victims of sexual assault. The female sexual assault program had been the brain child of former Chairman Paul C. MacDonald, M.D. (1970–1976), who felt that not enough was being done for victims of sexual assault. He struck a deal with Judge Lew Sterrett and the Dallas County Commissioners for Department faculty to examine and treat assault victims and also collect evidence for the medical examiner to use in court.

As medical director, Dr. Ackerman assumed responsibility for the administration of this program. He made sure the protocol for gathering and securing forensic evidence was followed and often provided testimony in court. His passion for delivering quality health care to women in the ICC set the standard for others to follow and resulted in one of the highest conviction rates for sexual assault in the nation.

Some faculty “write large,” leaving their mark on the national and international practice of our specialty. Others write no less indelibly on the walls of Parkland and UT Southwestern, transforming the way obstetrics and gynecology is practiced and taught, one day, and one patient at a time. Gary Ackerman was among the latter group – a faculty physician, who during his 39-year career at UT Southwestern, quietly led by example, taught by doing, and could be counted on to help out wherever and whenever needed.