Frank C. Arnett Jr., MD

For four decades, patients and matriculating medical professionals benefitted from the work of Dr. Frank Arnett. Attesting to his skills as a rheumatologist and specialist in internal medicine, Dr. Arnett taught generations of students as a professor at the University of Texas at Houston and Johns Hopkins University.

Inspired to go into the field of medicine at an early age, Dr. Arnett followed this interest at the University of Cincinnati, first earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1964 before receiving an MD from the institution in 1968. He continued his medical development as a resident in medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1968 to 1970 and as a fellow in rheumatology at the hospital from 1970 to 1972. From 1972 to 1974, he served as the Chief of Rheumatology at the Wilford Hall Medical Facility and then spent a year as an instructor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University. From 1975 to 1984, he worked as an assistant and then as an associate professor of medicine at the institution. In 1984, Dr. Arnett accepted the post of Director of the Division of Rheumatology at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, a role he would hold until 2001. During these years, he also taught as a professor of internal medicine at the university. From 2001 to 2004, he leveraged his skills and expertise as the Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at the institution. He retired in 2012 and was bestowed with the prestigious professor emeritus title from the university in recognition of his longstanding contributions and commitment to the medical field.

In addition to this work, Dr. Arnett served as a member of the PI-NIH Grant from 2006 to 2008 and as a researcher of genetic rheumatic diseases. He is the author of “Genome-Wide Scans,” and has contributed to numerous chapters, books, articles and professional journals.

Throughout Dr. Arnett’s career, he maintained affiliation with a variety of professional institutions. These institutions include the Heritage Society at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, the Association of American Physicians, the American Autoimmune Related Disease Association, the American College of Physicians and the American College of Rheumatology. His civic involvement includes roles as an advisory committee member of the Lupus Foundation, the Scleroderma Foundation, the Arthritis Foundation and as a member of the Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation.