Kenneth Jobson

KNOXVILLE - Kenneth Owens Jobson, M.D (80)—Beloved, Dad, Grandfather, DaddyKen, Brother, Friend— passed away peacefully on Sunday, August 27, 2023, surrounded by family, after a short battle with cancer. Born in Atlanta, Georgia on March 28, 1943, to Martha and Vernon Jobson, Sr., he fondly spoke of his gratitude for a childhood full of love and mutual concern. Ken was a Stipe Scholar and Phi Beta Kappa at Emory University where he earned both his bachelor’s degree and Doctor of Medicine. In 1968 he began his medical career as a U.S. Army flight surgeon. After serving our country, he established a General Internal Medicine Practice in Citrus County, FL. In 1978, after completing his Residency in Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he headed the Psychopharmacology Lab, he moved to Knoxville, Tennessee to co-found National Psychopharmacology Laboratory (NPL), which was later purchased by a NASDAQ listed company. In 1985, Ken founded the International Psychopharmacology Algorithm Project, in order to make peer-reviewed, current, best-practices in psychiatric medicine accessible world wide. This work has been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO). Building on this project, he worked with faculty at national and international universities and the National Institutes of Mental Health to facilitate the establishment of additional algorithm projects in the United States, Europe and Asia. He was deeply committed to his patients at his private clinical practice, Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology Services. He served on the clinical faculty of the University of Tennessee and co-edited Textbook of Treatment Algorithms in Psychopharmacology (1999). Ken was a lifelong learner who fostered connections and combined knowledge across disparate domains, most recently co-authoring a book, Cognitive Superiority: Information to Power (2020). A cherished mentor and friend, Ken counseled to forgive and seek forgiveness, to have gratitude and benedict freely, and to live with awe and wonder. His family fondly recalls his unfailing devotion, love and his ever-present commitment to their well-being. He encouraged them and others to ask good questions, to be big-hearted and tough-minded, and to remember that it’s all Grace. Ken is survived by Harriet Tumlin Jobson, his loving wife of 22 years; his brother, Vernon Jobson (Sally); sister Nan Jobson (Neil Armingeon); brother-in-law, Steve “Thunder” Tumlin (Jean Alice); children, Owen Jobson (Marie), Cara Jobson (Marianna), Lisa Jobson, Stevens Koella, and Brooks Heiser (Craig); and is preceded in death by his first wife, Sandra Harman Jobson. Ken had ten grandchildren: Elliott, Noah, Nicholas and Elizabeth Jobson, Sandra and Lucy Jobson-Aue, John Charles and Ernest Trotter, and Virginia and Gibby Heiser. Funeral Service will be held at The Episcopal Church of the Ascension at 800 S Northshore Dr. Knoxville, TN 37919 on Saturday, September 16th at 2:00 p.m. Interment with Military Honors will be at East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery, 2200 E Gov John Sevier Hwy on Friday, September 15th at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.