Alumni

Alumni Spotlight: Jim L. Story, 1956 – 1961

Dr. Jim L. Story (pictured at left to the right of Dr. Lyle French) completed his pre-medical education at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth and then graduated from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville. He came to the University of Minnesota and completed an internship and residency training under the direction of Drs. William Peyton, Lyle French, and Shelley Chou. After completing his training at the University of Minnesota in 1961, he was asked by Dr. French to join the neurosurgery faculty. He remained in that position until 1967 when he was appointed Professor and Chairman of and helped found the Division of Neurosurgery at the New University of Texas Medical School in San Antonio.

Leading neurosurgery programs in Texas
During this time, he held numerous positions on Society of Neurological Surgeons’ developmental and policy making committees and was instrumental in bringing PET Scanning to San Antonio. Dr. Story also held a joint appointment as Professor in the Department of Anatomy and sponsored the first PhD graduate at the new Medical School. In 1973, he obtained approval for the establishment of a residency training program in neurosurgery and remained Head of the division of Neurosurgery for 29 years until 1996. During this period, with the support of his friend and colleague, Dr. Willis Brown, the program graduated 17 neurosurgical residents. “Being surrounded by very bright people was very stimulating,” he said of his long career in a 2018 story in the Magazines of the Schools at UT Health San Antonio.

Dr. Story then become a clinical Professor of Surgery/Neurosurgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and was Head of Neurosurgery at the Christus Santa Rosa Hospital, an affiliate of the University. In 2004, he returned to The Health Science Center and was appointed Director of the newly formed Center for Neurosurgical Sciences. He has since retired.

Research achievements
Neuroendocrinology was the early focus for Dr. Story’s research, especially in central nervous system control of adrenocortical and thyroid function. In the 1960s, he was responsible for the Functional Neurosurgery program at the University of Minnesota and his special interest in cerebrovascular disease contributed to the use of vein and prosthetic grafts for extracranial-intracranial vascular re-enforcement; to the surgical treatment of vertebral artery stenosis and the Subclavian Steal Syndrome; and with his ophthalmology colleague (and daughter), Dr. Kristin Story Held, to a further understanding of the relationship between carotid artery disease and ocular ischemic syndrome.

In 1958, Dr. Story married Joanne Nessly of Minneapolis, MN. They have four children: Dr. Kristin Story Held, Mary Story Pulliam (married to Dr. John Pulliam, a graduate of the training program in San Antonio), Jane Story Looke, and James D. Story. They have 15 grandchildren. He has a special interest in traditional jazz and enjoys reading, fishing, hunting, and spending time at his south Texas ranch.

(Source for most of the information: Society of Neurological Surgeons biography)