Claude D. Brunson, MD

Dr. Claude Brunson was chosen to lead the Mississippi State Medical Association as Executive Director on February 1, 2019. Dr. Brunson previously served as the Senior Advisor to the Vice Chancellor for External Affairs where he led the external affairs division at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, a role he officially assumed in 2010. His responsibilities included nurturing key relationships with constituencies outside the medical center campus to advance the missions of the medical center. An anesthesiologist and former chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at UMMC, he practiced medicine at the rank of full professor up until his retirement on April 1, 2019. He now holds the title of Professor Emeritus in the University of Mississippi School Of Medicine.

In 2013, Dr. Brunson was elected president of the Mississippi State Medical Association, the first African American to hold that position in the 160-year history of the organization. He also received the Ebony’s Power 100 List of Most Influential African Americans in 2013. He was the recipient of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Diversity Educator of the Year Award, the Distinguished Medical Alumnus Award from the University of Mississippi Alumni Chapter and the Alabama Majesty Awards as a Living Legend in the Field of Healthcare in 2015.

A native of Auburn, Alabama, Dr. Brunson earned his B.S. degree from the University of Alabama after a four-year tour with the U.S. Navy as a hospital corpsman and field medicine technician with the Fleet Marine Force. He completed his medical degree at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and his residency in anesthesiology at UMMC. After graduating, Brunson joined the faculty of the School of Medicine and later served as chief of the medical staff.

Among other accomplishments, Dr. Brunson is a graduate of the leadership course for physician executives offered by Harvard University. He has consistently been listed among the Best Doctors in America for many years beginning in 1988. He was a member of the board of directors of the American Society of Anesthesiologists from 2002-2015, leading several committees including finance and scientific affairs. He has also served on expert panels of the Food and Drug Administration. In addition, he served on the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure from 2010-2019, including as its President from 2018-2019. Dr. Brunson served as one of two Mississippi Commissioners on the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Commission where he held the position of Vice Chairman of the Commission in 2019. Dr. Brunson is the Governor’s appointee to the Emergency Medical Services Committee, Advisory Committee on COVID-19 and the Governor’s Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Abuse.