Claude D. Brunson

Claude Brunson, MD, MSCHS, CPE, FAAPL, FASA, is a nationally recognized physician leader and anesthesiologist who currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Association for Physician Leadership. He most recently served as Executive Director of the Mississippi State Medical Association until his retirement in June 2025. He is Professor Emeritus of Anesthesiology at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine and also holds nationally prominent roles in the American Medical Association, where he serves on the Council on Legislation and the Task Force to Preserve the Patient-Physician Relationship.

He previously served as Senior Advisor to the Vice Chancellor for External Affairs and Director of the Office of Government Affairs at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). In those roles, he led the external affairs division and coordinated all state and federal advocacy for the Medical Center, while also nurturing key relationships with constituencies across Mississippi to advance UMMC’s mission. An anesthesiologist and former Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at UMMC, he practiced medicine at the rank of full professor until his retirement from clinical practice in 2019.

Dr. Brunson served on the American Society of Anesthesiologists Board of Directors for seventeen years and currently serves on the Board of the Academy of Anesthesiology as its Treasurer. In 2022, he was selected to deliver the prestigious Rovenstine Lecture, the keynote address at the American Society of Anesthesiologists Annual Meeting.