A native of East Bernard Texas, Mark J. Kubala, MD, Fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (FAANS), Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS), is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Texas, where he was elected into the Alpha Epsilon Delta premedical society.

He received his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, where he was elected into the Alpha Omega Alpha honorary society and the Mu Delta service society, graduating in the top ranking of his class. He was honored as the Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus of the Year by the school in 1995.

Dr. Kubala interned at Hermann Hospital, Houston, where he was chosen as the Intern of the year. He completed his neurological surgery residency at Baylor University College of Medicine, Houston, which included a fellowship in neurology at the Mayo Clinic. He served in the USAir Force at Wilford Hall Hospital, San Antonio, Texas. He has been in the private practice of neurological surgery in Beaumont, Texas, since 1966. He was certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgeons in 1968.

Kubala served on numerous local medical committees in Beaumont, including president of the St. Elizabeth Medical Staff (1982–1983) and first physician Chairman of the Governing Board of St. Elizabeth Hospital (1985–1991).

He has also been active in organized medicine at the state level, beginning as a member of the House of Delegates of the Texas Medical Association (TMA) since 1969. He has sat on many committees and councils, serving several as chairman. He served as Speaker of the TMA House of Delegates (1990–1994) and TMA president (1995–1996). He received the TMA Distinguished Physician Service Award in 2006.

Kubala was one of the founding members of the Texas Medical  Association Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the TMA. He served as its original president (1994–1995) and served again as president from 1999 to 2001.

He served as Counselor of the Texas Association of Neurological Surgeons 1977–1985 and as its president 1985–1986. He was selected as the Neurosurgeon of the Year for the State of Texas in 2008.

He was president of the Texas Head and Spinal Cord Injury Prevention Foundation from 1989 to 1996. At the national level, Dr. Kubala served on the executive committee of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (1982–1985).

He served on the board of directors of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (1990–1993), which honored him as its sixth recipient of the Distinguished Service Award in 1998. He served as founding member and the first secretary of the Think First Foundation (National Head and Spinal Cord Injury Prevention program).

He represented neurological surgery in the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (1994–2013), including serving as its chairman of the Section Council of Neurological Surgery. He received the Medal of Valor for Distinguished Service in Medicine, the highest award given by the AMA, in 2012.

Dr. Kubala was happily married to Betty Fertitta Kubala for 55 years, until her death in 2013. Together they raised four children and have seven grandchildren. Both were active in the Catholic Church, serving on parish and school boards, Catholic Charities, and the Diocesan Bishop Faith Appeal, and were members of the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher. Dr. Kubala has been honored for community service by the Beaumont Mental Health Association, the American Heart Association, Catholic Charities, and the Gift of Life Breast and Prostate Cancer Prevention Program.