Albert Pitt "Pete" Shepherd Jr., Ph.D.

1943 - 2023

Albert Pitt "Pete" Shepherd, Jr., PhD
December 29, 1943 - March 3, 2023
Albert Pitt "Pete" Shepherd, Jr., PhD, died peacefully at home on March 3, 2023, with his wife and daughter at his side. He was 79 years old.
Dr. Shepherd grew up in Greenwood, Mississippi. In high school he was fascinated by chemistry and built homemade rockets. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Millsaps College. During his senior year, he married Melissa Darnell. He earned his PhD in Physiology at The University of Mississippi Medical Center under the guidance of world renowned physiologist Dr. A.C. Guyton, PhD. In 1971 the couple moved to Houston, Texas, where Dr. Shepherd completed a post-doctoral fellowship at The University of Texas Medical Center at Houston, and where their daughter, Genevieve, was born. In 1974 Dr. Shepherd joined the faculty in the physiology department at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where he remained for the rest of his career.
During his prolific career, Dr. Shepherd conducted research, published numerous papers, and presented internationally at physiology meetings. He also taught cardiovascular and respiratory physiology to the medical and allied health students in addition to mentoring graduate students. He was a member of both the American Physiological Society and the Microcirculatory Society.
Dr. Shepherd was also an inventor and entrepreneur. In 1976 he founded A-VOX Systems Inc., and made the A-V Difference Analyzer available for animal research. He later invented the Avoximeter for use in cardiac cath labs as well as a co-oximeter for use in clinical laboratories. The company was sold in 2006 and Avoximeters are still in use today.
He retired in 2009 and earned the status of Professor Emeritus in 2019.
Dr. Shepherd received many honors and awards. In 2010 the San Antonio Business Journal named him a Health Care Hero in the Health Care Innovator field. Also in 2010 he received the Chancellor's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. In 2015 Dr. Shepherd was named the Distinguished Alumnus at The University of Mississippi Medical Center and in 2016 he was named a Fellow in the American Physiological Society. After his retirement, he continued to stay active in education, designing and updating web-based applications for teaching physiology.
In his post-retirement years he and his wife enjoyed traveling and spending time with family. His grandsons fondly remember hunting and fishing trips with Papa. Dr. Shepherd often said, "Work hard and play hard- in that order." His hobbies included hunting, fishing, traveling, hiking and racquetball.
Despite a busy career, he always made time for family and friends. Gardening, ping pong and backyard badminton with his daughter and grandsons were favorites. He loved hosting casual backyard barbecues. He had a welcoming, fun-loving spirit and a great sense of humor.
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Melissa Darnell Shepherd; his daughter, Genevieve Shepherd Ali, MD; his son-in-law Aaron Ashoka Ali, MD; and his grandsons Travis Shepherd Ali, Tucker Selman Ali, and Dustin Pitt Ali.
He is survived by his siblings Sherry Wynne, Diane Pearce and Doug Shepherd.
He is also survived by the double decker tree fort he built with his grandsons.
His encouragement of anyone seeking their higher education will always be remembered.
A celebration of life will be held at a future date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Biggs Institute at www.makelivesbetter.uthscsa.edu/biggsdonate, The American Heart Association, or The Cibolo Center for Conservation at Cibolo.org.