2018 Outstanding Alumnus Award Winner
Dr. Dudney practiced for 30 years as one of only two physicians in Jackson County, the same county he grew up in in Gainesboro, Tennessee.
Known in the community for being selfless in his work for more than 50 years, Dr. Dudney is remembered for the countless babies he delivered and surgeries he performed, often taking calls every other night and weekend throughout his career as a physician.
In 1946, at the age of sixteen he graduated high school as valedictorian and attended Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, known now as Tennessee Technological University, from 1946-1949.
After receiving his medical degree from the UTHSC in 1952, he enrolled in a civilian internship program with the U.S. Air Force, interning at the Nashville General Hospital. He qualified as a flight surgeon after attending the School of Aviation Medicine at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
Shortly after, he was assigned to the Washington National Airport where he took care of VIP personnel traveling to and from the United States including presidential flight crews. While serving in active duty in Washington, Dr. Dudney served as an escort for social and state functions at the White House, serving as a White House aide to President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
When he completed his work in the military, Dr. Dudney moved to Chattanooga to begin a surgical residency at Erlanger Baroness Hospital, where he was chief surgical resident in his final year.
Dr. Dudney returned to Gainesboro for private practice in 1959 where he continued his military service as a reservist, retiring in 1973 as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1973. He retired from private practice in 1997.
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