James "Red" Duke

James Henry "Red" Duke, Jr. (November 16, 1928 – August 25, 2015) was a trauma surgeon and professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, where he worked on-site since 1972. He was instrumental in introducing Memorial Hermann's Life Flight program and bringing a level I trauma center to Houston.

Duke had a nationally syndicated television spot called Texas Health Reports or Dr. Red Duke's Health Reports, which aired on local television stations in the United States for fifteen years.

Early life Duke was born in Ennis, Texas. He graduated from Hillsboro High School and later earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University in 1950.

He also pursued graduate studies at the Columbia University under a National Institutes of Health fellowship. He is credited with saving the life of Governor Connally.

Duke's academic career began in 1966 as an assistant professor of surgery at UT Southwestern Medical School and later at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. He also took some time to pursue graduate studies in chemical engineering, biochemistry and computer sciences at Columbia University under the auspices of an NIH Special Fellowship. While Duke was an assistant professor of surgery in New York, he spent two years from 1970 to 1972 in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, as a visiting professor and later chairman of surgery at Nangarhar University School of Medicine.

After returning from Afghanistan, Duke joined the faculty of McGovern Medical School (formerly the University of Texas Medical School at Houston), where he was a professor of surgery. Among his many responsibilities, Duke served as special assistant to the president of the UT Health Science Center and held one of the distinguished professorships at McGovern Medical School as the John B. Holmes Professor of Clinical Sciences. He established Houston's Hermann Hospital Life Flight operations in 1976 and helped establish its trauma and emergency services, of which he served as director. He was 86 years old.

Recognition

The University of Texas Medical School at Houston Department of Surgery sponsored a scholarship fund in honor of Duke, aimed towards students wishing to research and train in the field of trauma.

Duke was also noted outside the medical community. He attained the rank of Eagle Scout, and the Boy Scouts of America honored him with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. As founder and past president of the Texas Bighorn Society, Duke was a major supporter of many wildlife conservation organizations. He served as president of the Boone and Crockett Club, the oldest conservation organization in the United States, and the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep.

Duke was also one of the most recognized television personalities in his field, as determined by the Gallup Organization. He was the former host of the nationally syndicated Texas Health Reports

The Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame inducted Duke in 2010.

The Memorial Hermann Air Ambulance program, Life Flight, uses the FAA approved callsign “Red Duke” for all IFR flights in support of their air medical transports.