‘His door was always open’
03/31/2025
By Brett Buckner
Dr. Kevin Lackey knows where he came from and who helped him get where he is today - retired Jax State professor Dr. Fred Gant. A self-described “poor kid from the trailer park” in Anniston, Lackey was the first person in his family to go to college. He graduated from Jax State in 1991 with a degree in biology and a minor in chemistry. He is now an anesthesiologist with Anesthesia Associates of Gadsden, working primarily at the Regional Medical Center and Stringfellow Hospital. Though it’s been nearly 45 years, Lackey never forgot Gant, neither did his other students. “Dr Gant’s efforts laid the groundwork for the success for many of us to get into and through med school and residency,” Lackey said. “I don’t even know if [he] truly appreciates the impact he had on a generation of future graduate students in the medical sciences.”
To show their gratitude for helping shape their futures, several of Dr. Grant’s former students, all of whom are now doctors, recently hosted a reunion in his honor. “It was really nice,” Dr. Gant said. “It was a very humbling experience, and I felt very, very blessed.” Dr. Fred Gant taught chemistry at Jax State for 33 years, starting in 1967 and retiring in 2000. Though he had early aspirations of working for NASA after graduating from the University of Alabama with a Ph.D., Dr. Gant’s first teaching job was at Mobile College, where he stayed for a year before a close friend mentioned that Jax State had an opening for a chemistry professor.
“And that’s where I stayed,” Dr. Gant said with a laugh. “We had a good student body and turned out some really good students. They did us all real proud.”
Dr. LaDonna Crews was one such student. A 1990 graduate, Dr. Crews serves as associate professor of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at the University of South Alabama Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine and is the Director of the Pediatric Complex Care Clinic. She remembers the support, encouragement and individualized attention Dr. Gant gave to all his students. “He always provided us with a listening ear and caring heart with his open-door policy,” Dr. Crews said. “He was always truthful in his responses and provided us with information regarding our next steps. He emphasized that what one may think of as adversity might just be a new learning opportunity.”
During the reunion, former students shared stories about how Dr. Gant influenced their lives and careers. “He helped me understand the importance of resilience,” Crews said. “Most people do not get to share feelings and be able to come full circle to let a person who has been so influential in our lives know just how important he has been.”
In addition to the reunion, the group established the Dr. Fred Gant Endowed Scholarship Fund, which is a competitive scholarship for junior or senior-level students in the Pre-Health Professions program. “Dr. Gant has impacted many students’ lives, even the ones that did not go into medicine,” said Dr. Jason Jukins, who along with, Dr. Lackey, organized the reunion. “He changed many lives of the people that focused on chemistry careers as well. Because of him, literally tens of thousands of patients’ lives have been affected.”
Equal footing
Every student who entered Dr. Gant’s classroom knew exactly where they stood. “There were no favorites,” he said. “…That makes all the difference. They know if they come to you and ask questions, you'll give them direct answers. They didn’t always like the answers I gave, but, they knew I was being honest. You can't teach a student if you’re not honest with them.”
Dr. Lisa Franklin remembers receiving some of that famous honesty when Dr. Gant questioned her study habits after she earned a poor grade on an exam. “He got onto me,” said Dr. Franklin, who graduated from in 1988. “But he knew that if I struggled in his class and didn't pull a good grade, then I was going to have a harder time getting a medical school to look at me.” Franklin got into med school and has been an obstetrician-gynecologist at Henderson and Walton Women’s Center since 1996. “I needed that wisdom, and it proved he cared, respected us and was so accessible to us. His office door was always open.”
Dr. Gant’s availability was especially valuable as an advisor given that some pre-med classes at Jax State were only offered every two years. Student had to have a plan. “You just found your way to him,” Dr. Franklin said, “and he told you what you needed.” Such direction was particularly necessary for first-generation students like Dr. Franklin. “It was such uncharted waters for me,” she said. “I needed all the help I could get, and he was my guide.”
When Dr. Gant started at Jax State, it was clear that many of the students didn’t come from privileged backgrounds like those at the University of Alabama. “But I didn't look down on them or anything like that,” Dr. Gant said. “Some of them needed to be told that they could do it. I tried to make sure everybody understood that I cared about what they did.”
Dr. Gant understood what was at stake for his students. “I mean, given the years and the finances involved, if you're wasting time, you're wasting your life, and you're wasting money,” Dr. Franklin said. “Most of us that were at that reunion, came from [working class] backgrounds where you needed to get it right first time. We didn't have time to waste.”
Like most gifted students, Dr. Lackey never needed to study in high school, meaning he didn’t know how to study. At Jax State, Dr. Gant taught him the fundamentals and discipline required in college and later grad school. “Dr. Gant’s efforts laid the groundwork for success for many of us to get into and through med school and residency,” he said. “[He] demanded excellence from his students. Dr. Gant instilled in me a love for the scientific method. He expected, rightly, that his students would apply this to study and to learn the material.”
Dr. Lackey attended Jax State with his best friend, Jason Jukins, who also graduated in 1991 with a degree in biology and a minor in chemistry. They often hung out in the chemistry department, and spent countless hours studying, doing “chalk talk” as Junkins called it, filling the chalkboards at night with equations while studying for exams. “Dr. Gant had a patient and caring approach to teaching and mentoring that wasn’t typically seen,” said Dr. Jukins, who is a physician, specializing in internal medicine and pediatric training as well as founder and CEO of Southern Immediate Care. “He was also very tenacious when advocating for his students to the medical schools.”
Always up front
Dr. Franklin was the only student in her class trying to get into med school, which meant that getting in was going to be a challenge. “He was very upfront with us, but that's what we needed because it wasn't like Jacksonville State was known for sending out med school students,” she said. “He had to get us as prepared as we could be, so they would even look at us, then interview us, and give us a chance.” Dr. Gant wrote letters of recommendation to admission boards at medical schools. He also had connections with the admissions chairman at UAB Medical School and the admission chairman at South Alabama Medical School whom he often invited to speak to his students.
“One time it worked out really well for one of my students,” Dr. Gant said, “and it was all because of his heart.” While some of the specifics of that particular success story have been lost to time, Dr. Gant remembers the student’s first name was Ricky and that he was poor. His mother cleaned offices at night, so he could attend Jax State. Ricky applied to medical schools, but South Alabama and UAB turned him down. Dr. Gant personally called the admissions chairman at South Alabama. “I told him, ‘I know this one does not have the qualification to get into medical school,” Dr. Gant, said. “But look at his record for freshmen year, then sophomore year, then junior year, and senior year. He’s progressed every year.” The chairman did as Dr. Gant asked. About a week later he called Dr. Gant back, agreeing about Ricky’s improvement. Ricky was accepted, qualifying for the Deprived Student Program, which was about to close because it was so demanding nobody ever finished it. Four years later, that same admissions officer calls Dr. Grant. “He said, ‘Ricky is graduating,” Dr. Gant said. “’And he is the best diagnostic technician we've ever had.’ “Stories like that … it’s why I loved what I did.”
Though it’s not the only reason. Dr. Gant also wanted his students to be prepare … just in case. “My story for them was, ‘I want you to be the best doctor you can be because someday you may be my doctor,” he said. “And you know what? I have had to two or three of 'em as my doctor, and they've done real well.”