Robert Jack Pursley, MHA, Ph.D.
Class 1963-1965
BS, Univ., Maryland, 1964
MHA, Baylor Univ., Waco, TX, 1965
Ph.D., Univ. Iowa, 1971
Assoc. Prof., Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 1980 to present
Dir., Georgia Warm Springs Hosp., Warm Springs, GA, 1977-80
Dir. & Prof., Health Srvc. Admin. Prog. Quinnipiac College, Hamden, CO, 1975-77
Dep. Commander Admin., Martin ACH, Columbus, GA, 1972-75
Dep. Commander Admin., Augsburg ACH, Augsberg, Germany, 1971-72
Asst. Chief, Assign., OTSG, Washington, DC, 1965-68
Dep. Commander Admin., Seoul ACH, Seoul, Korea, 1965-66
Resident, Brooke Gen. Hosp., Ft. Sam Houston, TX, 1964-65
Biography
Dr. Jack Pursley was born and raised in Chattanooga. After high school, he went with his "buddies" and volunteered for military service.
It was in the service that Pursley said he began his career in public health, working as a pharmacist's mate at the end of World War II.
He worked in a research laboratory for artificial limbs for ten years and in personnel administration for another ten years. During this time he worked at hospitals in Washington D.C., Germany and Korea.
Pursley said he got his first taste of teaching after completing his bachelor's degree in business administration at the University of Maryland in 1961.
"It was the early part of the Berlin Crisis," Pursley said. "We were in a state of mobilization and I was assigned to teach newly assigned medical officers."
Pursley taught at the Academy of Health Sciences of the U.S. Army Medical Services in San Antonio, Texas for six years. During this time Pursley also completed his masters degree in hospital administration at Baylor University.
After Baylor, Pursley went to the University of Iowa where he received his doctoral degree in hospital and health administration in 1971.
He served as chief executive officer and administrator at Ausburg Army Community Hospital in Ausburg, Germany from '71 to '72, and Martin Army Community Hospital in Columbus, Ga. from '72 to '75.
For his second teaching experience, Pursley was a professor and director at Quinnipiac College in Hamden, Conn. for two years. He then moved to Georgia where he was director of the Warm Springs Hospital until 1980.
"I came back to teaching after the experience of working 70 to 85 hours a week in hospital administration," Pursley said. "I reached a point where I wanted to get back to what I had gotten my Ph.D. for, so I would be qualified to teach. ... I felt I had paid my debt as a hospital manager and administrator."
A "Tennessee hillbilly at heart," Pursley said he searched for a job close to his hometown of Chattanooga. He accepted a job at UT in September of 1980.
Pursley said he loves his students and teaching. One of his favorite things is working with doctoral students and helping them focus their research. He said he especially likes working with students in the area of health risk appraisal technology, which works to inform the public of potential health risks.
"Learning is a reciprocal process," Pursley said. "I can learn from my students, they can learn from one another and hopefully they can learn from me."
Through teaching, Pursley said he tries to give his students the benefit of his experiences.
"I feel really strongly that one of the main things we in the helping profession must do is pass on to our successors anything we've gained in our career," Pursley said.
My career in the health field is divided into almost three equal parts related to hospital administration, teaching, and upper extremity prosthetic research. Currently, my primary focus is on microcomputer applications related to preventive and community medicine.
Specifically, I am most interested in health risk appraisal technology for college students, adults and persons over age 65.
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