Kenneth Merle Brinkhous (1908–2000) was a professor and chairperson in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
During that conflict, Dr. Brinkhous commanded an Army laboratory in Australia, which served as a reference facility for the U. S. military forces in the South Pacific.
He had a leading role in planning and implementing the pathology laboratories for the North Carolina Memorial Hospital that opened in 1952.
Brinkhous was influential in the development and staffing of an expanded medical school faculty at UNC, especially in its clinical departments.
His philosophy was that excellent teaching and clinical service required associated research programs of high quality.
Kenneth Brinkhous earned many honors, including honorary doctoral degrees from UNC and the University of Chicago; the O. Max Gardner Award of the UNC Board of Governors; election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and to the National Academy of Sciences; and the Gold-Headed Cane Award from the American Society of Pathologists, an organization he had served as President.