Dr. A. Bennett Jenson passed away on Dec 23, 2019 at the age of 80. His great sense of humor, tender heart, generous spirit and scientific mind will be dearly missed by all who knew him. Born in Texas, Ben spent his childhood in Hobbs, NM but moved back to Texas to complete a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at TCU, a Master’s degree in Experimental Pathology at Baylor University and a Medical Degree at Baylor College of Medicine.
Ben was a Vietnam-era veteran and served in the US Army Medical Corps as a pathologist and performed valuable research for which he received the Army Commendation Medal. His career in pathology started at Baylor but extended to Scripps Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Georgetown University and University of Louisville. He was a dedicated pathologist at the hospitals, but his true passion was researching viruses and vaccines. He greatly admired Edward Jenner, an early vaccine researcher, and gave several lectures on his work. Ben’s hard work and dedication through the years paid off because he became co-inventor of the cervical cancer vaccine.
He was also an animal lover and very much interested in preventing the papillomavirus from occurring in dogs, horses, manatees, dolphins and snow leopards. He was often requested by veterinarians to share his knowledge and expertise on animals afflicted with this virus. Ben’s determination to help others was apparent when he continued to work on other types of vaccines after the cervical cancer vaccine was made public.
In his pastime, he enjoyed reading books, and watching his favorite sports teams play basketball and football. In his younger days, he was an excellent golfer and won the state championship in high school. Ben was loved by all and his achievements in the field of science as well as his warm personality will never be forgotten.
He is survived by his wife, Shin-je; daughters, Stephanie, Michelle and Jennifer; his grandson, Jared; and granddaughter, Mariska.
A visitation will be held Sunday, Dec. 29th 1 to 4 pm at Arch L. Heady-Cralle, 2428 Frankfort Ave., with a celebration of Dr. Jenson’s life at 4pm.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in the name of Dr. A. Bennett Jenson at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, 529 South Jackson Street, Louisville, KY 40202.
