Dr. Richard Rutland, Jr., who was instrumental in the founding of the College of Community Health Sciences and who provided early leadership for its family medicine residency, died Jan. 12, 2026.
Rutland grew up in Eufaula, Ala. He practiced for years in Fayette, Ala., and was an early faculty member at CCHS. He was devoted to improving family medicine training and increasing access to quality health care for Alabama’s rural citizens.
“I came into this world knowing that I wanted to be a doctor,” he said during a 2012 interview for the College’s 40th anniversary, adding that his inspiration came from his own family physician, whom Rutland described as a “true, old-fashioned family doctor. Because of his warmth, his caring and his love of medicine, I decided that I, too, wanted to become a physician.”
Rutland attended The University of Alabama for a year before joining the V-12 Navy College Training Program. He completed his premedical studies at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and graduated in 1949 from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans. He completed an internship at Jefferson Hillman Hospital in Birmingham, Ala., and then began two years of active duty in the Navy. Afterward, he completed a general practice residency in California and Colorado and in 1954 began his practice in Fayette. His practice also included obstetrics and surgery, and he later established clinics in the rural Alabama towns of Berry and Kennedy and began a cardiac rehab program in Fayette County, serving as its first medical director.
Prior to the establishment of CCHS, Rutland was one of only a handful of physicians who made their practices available for preceptorships to medical students wanting a family medicine experience. He began meeting with medical leaders in Tuscaloosa and garnered support for a family practice training program. Rutland became acting director of the College’s new Family Practice Residency, a position he held from 1974-75.
“I had been dreaming about this type of training when I was studying to become a doctor,” Rutland said in the 2012 interview. To date, more than 600 physicians have graduated from the UA Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Residency Program and are practicing in Alabama and across the Southeast. One in seven Alabama family medicine physicians graduated from the residency.
Rutland received numerous honors at the local, state and national levels during his professional career and for his tireless work in family medicine and, especially, rural medicine. He was chosen Family Doctor of the Year in 1982, with the award presented at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Samuel Gaskins of Northport, Ala., a former faculty member at the College of Community Health Sciences and a long-time director of the College’s Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Residency Program, died in October 2025.
Gaskins joined CCHS in 1979 and served as director of the Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Residency for a period of 20 years. He first served as residency director from 1980 to 1994. He again provided leadership for the residency beginning in 1999, a year that marked a total of 258 graduates from the residency’s founding in 1975, making it one of the most productive programs in the Southeast. He served as director until 2003.
Today, the residency is one of the largest and most successful family medicine residencies in the United States, have graduated more than 600 physicians specializing in family medicine who are practicing throughout Alabama and the Southeast.
Gaskins retired from CCHS in 2005 but remained active with the College. He served for many years on the CCHS Board of Visitors, a volunteer group of alumni, donors, community physicians and friend of the College who assist CCHS in securing financial resources and developing opportunities for medical students and resident physicians. He helped launch an endowed scholarship in his name for medical students – the Dr. Samuel E. Gaskins Endowed Medical Students Scholarship.
At a College celebration earlier in 2025 marking the 50th anniversary of the Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Residency, Gaskins was presented with the inaugural Educator of Distinction Award, given to those who have shaped future generations through outstanding teaching and mentorship.
Gaskins received a Bachelor of Science Degree in biological sciences from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He received his medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va. He completed a family practice residency at VCU Riverside Regional Medical Center Hospital in New Port News, Va.
Dr. John Earl Brandon of Gordo, Ala., who inspired countless aspiring rural physicians through his longstanding work with the Rural Medical Scholars Program at the College of Community Health Sciences, died Aug. 1, 2026, at the age of 74.
Brandon grew up in Tuscaloosa, Ala., graduating from Tuscaloosa High School in 1970. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1974 from Davidson College in North Carolina and his medical degree in 1978 from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans. Brandon completed a three-year residency at The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Residency Program, which is operated by CCHS.
Brandon started practicing medicine in 1981 in Gordo and in 1985 opened the Family Practice Center, continuing his medical career there for more than 40 years. Friends and family say he loved his work as a primary care physician in the small, rural community.
During much of that time, he also served as medical director of the Rural Medical Scholars Program, a five-year medical education track with a focus on primary care and rural community medicine that leads to a medical degree. The program is operated by CCHS and jointly administered by UA and the UAB Heersink School of Medicine.
In the role, Brandon mentored numerous students through his teaching and leadership. He often accompanied the Rural Medical Scholars on their annual trip to Washington, D.C., to attend the Medical Association of the State of Alabama Governmental Affairs Conference. While in the nation’s capital, the students join Alabama physicians from MASA and the Alabama Academy of Family Physicians for agency briefings, meet health leaders and elected officials, and meet with the Alabama congressional delegation about federal policies that affect medical practice and patient care back home.
In July 2026, the Rural Medical Scholars Program announced that it was renaming its Sage Award, an annual honor that recognizes contributions to rural health, the Dr. John Brandon Award.
Brandon served as the team physician for Gordo High School athletics, and his commitment to the school’s football program was unwavering. He didn’t miss a single game from 1981 to 2025 – whether at home or away – for a total of 548 consecutive games.
He was instrumental in the implementation of SMART clinics in Pickens County, Ala., and served as the physician preceptor at the clinics. SMART clinics offer a full-spectrum health clinic for students, as well as faculty and staff, in Pickens County schools. The Gordo Elementary School SMART Clinic was dedicated in honor of Brandon in 2023.
Brandon served as a member of the Pickens County Medical Center Board of Trustees, and for three years he served as interim representative on the Pickens County Board of Education.
He was a member of the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians throughout his career. In 2023, he was awarded the Samual Buford Word Award, the highest honor given by the AMA in recognition of service to humanity.
In addition, Davidson College honored Brandon at his 50th class reunion in 2024 with the John W. Kuykendall Award for Community Service. The award recognizes alumni who have provided extraordinary service to their community.