Dr. Alan K. Pierce served on the faculty of the Department of Internal Medicine from 1962 until his retirement to become professor emeritus in 1999. During Dr. Pierce's career at UT Southwestern he served as served as Chief of Pulmonary Disease, Vice Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, Director of the Pulmonary Functions Laboratory, Medical Director of the Aston Ambulatory Care Center, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs and Medical Director of Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. In 1985, Pierce received the prestigious Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award for teaching excellence. Dr. Jonathan Weissler said of him, "In his time [Dr. Pierce] was widely considered to be absolutely the BEST teacher at UT Southwestern, both brilliant and entertaining. He was famous for hopping onto the desks of medical students in the D1 lecture halls and walking on them while teaching." This photo appeared in the 1963 medical school yearbook, "Iatros."