2023 Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumni (ASDA) Award Recipient
This is the highest alumni honor bestowed to a medical school graduate by the university's John Sealy School of Medicine Alumni Association. This award, recognizing outstanding service to the medical profession and to humanity, honors the memory of Dr. Ashbel Smith. A prominent figure in Texas medicine, politics and education, Dr. Smith was considered the driving force behind establishing the University of Texas at Austin in 1881, and a medical department that would later be known as the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in 1891.
About Dr. Limmer
Dr. Bobby Limmer graduated with highest honors from Texas A&M University in 1964 with bachelor’s degrees in
English and in Zoology. In 1968, he obtained his medical degree at the UTMB School of Medicine. He then went
on to complete an internship at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center and a dermatology residency at Brooke Army Medical
Center in 1972. He remained there on faculty until 1974 and completed board certifications in both dermatology and
dermatopathology.
In 1974, Dr. Limmer resigned from his U.S. Army Medical Corps commission to enter private practice in San Antonio.
He continued to teach as a clinical professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center with appointments in both
Dermatology and Plastic Surgery and developed techniques advancing areas of special interest in cryosurgery and hair
loss and restoration. He is credited with becoming the first to introduce dissecting microscopic dissection into the
production of naturally occurring follicular units to produce a completely natural cosmetic appearance. For this work, he
received multiple international recognitions.
Dr. Limmer has served as Vice President of the Texas Dermatological Society, President of the American College
of Cryosurgery, President of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, and was a contributing editor of
the Journal of Dermatological Surgery. His awards include induction into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Medical
Society, a U.S. Army Commendation Medal, and the Platinum Follicle Award from the International Society of Hair
Restoration Surgery for basic research in hair anatomy and physiology.
Dr. Limmer’s curriculum vitae includes over 40 national and international publications and over 80 such professional
presentations.
He is especially proud of his family’s continued contribution to
medicine. His two sons completed medical school and became board
certified in dermatology, his daughter-in-law is also a board-certified
dermatologist, and his
two granddaughters are currently doing residencies in dermatology.
Although Dr. Limmer is retired, he currently serves as President of the Board of Governors of the Llano Christian
Academy in Llano, Texas. In his spare time, he enjoys serving his community and church, gardening, and ranching.