Medical Alumni Association Awards

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2025 Medical Alumni Association Awards. The Medical Alumni Awards will be presented at the 2025 MAA Reunion on June 13-15, 2025. Please note the deadline for 2025 MAA Awards nominations is Dec. 31, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. CST. All nominations submitted after the deadline will be held for consideration in 2026. To nominate an individual, please see the criteria below.

Nomination Process

• Nominations will be accepted until Dec. 31, 2024.
• The nomination form must be submitted electronically through the application website.
• A current resume or curriculum vitae is required and must be emailed by the nomination deadline to medalum@southalabama.edu with the nominee's first and last name in the subject line.
• A letter of endorsement is strongly encouraged and may be emailed by the nomination deadline to medalum@southalabama.edu with the nominee's first and last name in the subject line.
• It is the responsibility of the nominator to ensure that the nomination form is completed and supplemental documentation is submitted by the published deadline.
• Self-nominations are welcome.
• Nominations will be kept on file for 5 years.

Memorial Awards Eligibility

The USA Medical Alumni Association acknowledges that too often our alumni and current or former Whiddon College of Medicine faculty or staff pass on too soon, in what may have been the peak of their careers.

In light of this, a Memorial Award may be designated (in any of the following categories) for an eligible nominee who is recently deceased, defined as passing within the five years of nomination. Memorial Awards will be given at the discretion of the MAA Awards Committee.

Medical Alumni Association Awards Criteria 

The Distinguished Medical Alumni Award 

Purpose: To recognize an alumnus whose career has illustrated a commitment to leadership within the medical field; either in academics, business, government, or other unique positions. Such careers are usually distinguished by major leadership positions or respected national reputations.

Criteria

• Nominee must be a degreed alumnus from the University of South Alabama Whiddon College of Medicine.
• Nominee must have demonstrated outstanding leadership in the medical field.

Past Recipients

• 2018: Dr. David Gremse, ‘83
• 2019: Dr. David Adkison, ‘84
• 2024: Dr. Daniel C. Potts, '93
• 2024: Dr. S. Lane Rutledge, '81 (Memorial Award)
   

The Medical Alumni Humanitarian Award

Purpose: To recognize an alumnus who has made a significant impact on the medical care of the public, uniting medical service and public benefit on a local, national or international scale.  

Criteria

• Nominee must be a degreed alumnus from the University of South Alabama Whiddon College of Medicine.
• Nominee must have contributed a unique or outstanding form of service to the medical care of the public.

Past Recipients

• 2018: Dr. Marilyn Aiello, ‘76
• 2019: Dr. Steven Kinsey, ‘89
• 2024: Dr. Robert W. Chagrasulis, '81
   

The Distinguished Service Award

Purpose: To recognize an alumnus or faculty/staff member who has made a significant contribution improving the quality and reach of the Whiddon College of Medicine, as well as service that substantially benefits or enhances the reputation of the College.

Criteria

• Nominee must be either a Whiddon College of Medicine alumnus or faculty/staff member.
• Nominee must have exhibited outstanding service by enhancing education, the quality thereof, or other academic missions of the college.

Past Recipients

2024 Award Recipients

S. Lane Rutledge, MD, '81

2024 Distinguished Medical Alumni Memorial Award

S. Lane Rutledge, M.D., was a pediatric neurologist and geneticist and has been listed in the Best Doctors in America since 1994 and was a staunch advocate for her patients. Lane was a professor of Clinical Genetics at both Children’s of Alabama and UAB. She was medical director of UAB Biochemical Genetics Laboratory, director of Clinical Services for Genetics, and advisor to the Newborn Screening Program with the Alabama Department of Public Health. Lane was the physician for Camp Winnataska, a place near and dear to her heart, and she volunteered her time there every summer. She was a beloved mother, sister, aunt, friend and physician.

The Distinguished Medical Alumni Memorial Award recognizes an alum whose career illustrated a commitment to leadership within the medical field, either in academics, business, government, or other unique positions. Such careers are usually distinguished by major leadership positions or respected national reputations.

Daniel C. Potts, M.D., F.A.A.N., '93

2024 Distinguished Medical Alumni Award

Daniel C. Potts, M.D., F.A.A.N., '93, attending neurologist at the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center and adjunct faculty at the Whiddon College of Medicine, UAB Heersink SOM, and the University of Alabama, has been designated an Architect of Change by Maria Shriver for his advocacy for persons living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and their care partners. Selected by the American Academy of Neurology as the 2008 Donald M. Palatucci Advocate of the Year, he also was chosen by the University of Alabama Medical Alumni Association as the 2016 recipient of the Martha Myers Role Model Award, which honors physicians whose lives epitomize the ideal of service to their communities. Awarded Physician of the Year by the Association of the U.S. Army, West Alabama Chapter in 2020, he also was selected as a 2024 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from Birmingham-Southern College. Inspired by his father’s transformation from saw miller to watercolor artist in the throes of dementia through person-centered care and the expressive arts, Potts seeks to make these therapies more widely available through his foundation, Cognitive Dynamics. Additionally, he is passionate about promoting self-preservation and dignity for all persons with cognitive impairment. He and his wife, Ellen W. Potts, M.B.A. (USA '93), have two daughters, Julie and Maria, and reside in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The Distinguished Medical Alumni Award recognizes an alum whose career has illustrated a commitment to leadership within the medical field, either in academics, business, government, or other unique positions. Such careers are usually distinguished by major leadership positions or respected national reputations.

Robert W. Chagrasulis, M.D., '81

2024 Medical Alumni Humanitarian Award

Dr. Robert “Bob” Chagrasulis came to the Whiddon College of Medicine in July 1973 following graduation from Northeastern University (chemical engineering) to work in the new Department of Physiology. He left for a year at the University of Southern California (physiology) and returned to USA, entering in 1977 with the Class of 1981. Dr. Chagrasulis completed a postgraduate residency in general surgery at the Maine Medical Center (Tufts) and fellowship at Vanderbilt University in trauma/surgical critical care. His career was spent primarily in rural hospitals in Maine; since stepping out of the operating room, he has continued in the practice of MAT/addiction medicine. For 30 years, Dr. Chagrasulis has led medical and Rotary work teams to Haiti and the Dominican Republic with the current "Cross Cultural Medicine on Hispaniola" medical team of Whiddon College of Medicine 1981 classmates, in partnership with the Whiddon College of Medicine's Department of Emergency Medicine.

The Medical Alumni Humanitarian Award recognizes an alum who has made a significant impact on the medical care of the public, uniting medical service and public benefit on a local, national or international scale. 

Jonathan G. Scammell, Ph.D.

2024 Distinguished Service Award

Dr. Jonathan Scammell received his Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Florida and post-doctoral training in Pharmacology at Yale School of Medicine. Since joining the faculty at the University of South Alabama in 1986, he served as course director of Medical Pharmacology for over 10 years and was responsible for building the Endocrine Reproduction Module when the “new” pre-clinical curriculum was instituted. Also, while enjoying a research career funded by the NIH, NSF, the American Heart Association, and other agencies, he chaired multiple medical school committees including Curriculum, Faculty Promotion and Tenure, Admissions, Chair Searches, among others. Since retiring last October, he is taking advantage of his Emeritus status to continue to serve on several committees for the college and participate in small group learning sessions with M3 and M4 students.

The Distinguished Service Award recognizes an alum or faculty/staff member who has made a significant contribution to improving the quality and reach of the Whiddon College of Medicine, as well as service that substantially benefits or enhances the reputation of the College.

Robert D. Lightfoot, M.D.

The de Juan, Chambers, Oppenheimer Healthcare Award

It was a calling from God placed on the hearts of Dr. Robert and Tami Lightfoot that directed them to transition from the general surgery room to open Victory Health Partners, a faith-based, non-profit medical practice serving low-income, uninsured adults over 20 years ago. From Victory's first day of serving 12 patients, under Dr. Lightfoot's leadership and the faithfulness of God, over 40,000 patients have received compassionate and comprehensive healthcare throughout the Gulf Coast. The continuum of care has expanded from internal medicine to now a multi-specialty practice providing a full spectrum of healthcare for uninsured adults, with over 175 partner physicians and specialists. He will share that the greatest blessing is in the testimonies of the patients he has the blessing of serving for over the last 20 years. 

The de Juan, Chambers, Oppenheimer Healthcare Award recognizes a Whiddon College of Medicine adjunct faculty or healthcare leader in our region who has shown a deep commitment to the health of our community and has made a significant contribution to the medical field or the education of our healthcare professionals.