2013 Outstanding Alumnus Award Winner
During a two-year tenure at Brookley Air Force Base in Mobile, Ala., Dr. Charles White delivered 300 babies. And that’s just a snippet of his nearly 50 years of dedication to a career in medicine.
He still sees patients until noon on most days before he heads to piano lessons or to practice his swing on the golf course.
By the time White, who grew up in Arkansas, was in high school he knew he wanted to be a doctor.
“The person who influenced me most was our family physician, Dr. M.L. Dalton,” White recalls. “He never said anything about medicine being a great career, but somehow I liked what he did and I wanted to do it.”
After graduating from Memphis State University, White continued his studies in Memphis by attending medical school at the University of Tennessee. After an internship with the Memphis Methodist Hospital the Air Force called. Two years later, honorably discharged from his military duties, White opened his medical practice in Lexington, Tenn.
He has taught residents, served on a number of boards and committees, including the Board of Medical Examiners. He has been active in, and president of, the Tennessee Medical Association, the Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians, and the Consolidated Medical Assembly of West Tennessee. Beyond making an impact in the medical community, White’s involvement in the Lexington Rotary Club, the Henderson County School Board, and the Beech River Watershed Authority is far-reaching.
His footsteps are being followed by his son, Charles Jr., who is also a doctor. White and his wife of 55 years, Joyce, also have three more children and eight grandchildren.
View Past Medicine Award Winners