Claude D. Brunson

Claude Brunson, MD, MSCHS, CPE, FAAPL, FASA, is Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for Physician Leadership and a nationally recognized leader in physician leadership and healthcare transformation. He is leading AAPL through a strategic transition focused on strengthening financial sustainability, enhancing operational performance, and expanding the organization’s national impact in developing physician leaders.

Dr. Brunson brings decades of executive leadership experience across academic medicine, healthcare administration, and organized medicine. He most recently served as Executive Director of the Mississippi State Medical Association and is Professor Emeritus of Anesthesiology at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine. He also serves in national leadership roles with the American Medical Association, including the Council on Legislation and the Task Force to Preserve the Patient-Physician Relationship.

Earlier in his career, he served in senior leadership roles at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, including Senior Advisor for External Affairs and Director of Government Affairs. He is a former Chair of Anesthesiology at UMMC and practiced as a full professor until his retirement from clinical practice in 2019.

Dr. Brunson served for seventeen years on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Anesthesiologists and currently serves as Treasurer of the Academy of Anesthesiology. In 2022, he delivered the prestigious Rovenstine Lecture at the ASA Annual Meeting.