Gene V. Ball, M.D.*

It is with very deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Gene V. Ball, M.D.

Ball joined the UAB faculty in 1965 following his graduation from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, residency at both the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, and completing a rheumatology fellowship at Jackson Memorial. Ball was named the Jane Knight Lowe Professor in Medicine in Rheumatology in 1986. He did pivotal studies of saturnine gout (lead-induced gout), and served as editor of three editions of the textbook "Vasculitis."

Ball served as interim Director of the Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology for 18 months in 1995-96. In addition to faithfully serving UAB, Ball admirably served in leadership roles in numerous professional organizations, committees, and boards. Ball was a consummate clinician and he developed close relationships with his patients, and was a well-known fundraiser. He shepherded three research endowments at UAB and an endowment for the Division’s annual Lowe Conference of Rheumatic Diseases.

Ball was honored as a prestigious Master of the American College of Rheumatology. He retired from UAB in 1997. At that time, he was recognized and honored for his contributions to academic excellence by naming him professor emeritus. Even in his retirement Ball and his wife Sara Jane maintained an active presence in the Division, attending faculty recruitment dinners and research and education conferences.

*Photo courtesy of UAB Archives