Division Director, UAB Div. of Pediatric Rheumatology; Birmingham, Alabama

Local Arthritis Foundation Volunteer Awarded Organization’s Highest Honor

 A long-time local volunteer leader for the Arthritis Foundation has received theArthritis Foundation’s highest nationwide volunteer award, the Charles B. Harding Award for Distinguished Service. Brunson White, a member of the Arthritis Foundation’s Southeast Region Board and long-time leader of the organization’s efforts in Birmingham, received the honor at the organization’s national Annual Meeting in Colorado Springs, CO, during December.  This annual award recognizes a volunteer who has provided leadership and direction to the Arthritis Foundation, given their time and talent generously to help others, and challenged other Foundation volunteers to be their best. 

White has served the Arthritis Foundation in various volunteer capacities for more than 15 years including leadership positions on the former Alabama Chapter Board, National Board Chair from 2007 to 2008, and his current role as Vice Chair for the Arthritis Foundation’s Southeast Region. 

A lifelong resident of Birmingham, White is Principal of Brunson White Advisors, LLC a technology and strategy consulting firm.  He is retired from Energen Corporation where he was most recently a Senior Vice President at its Alagasco subsidiary. He is a member of the Leadership Birmingham Class of 2000 and Leadership Alabama’s Class XV.  He is a graduate of the University of Alabama.

During his involvement locally, White helped spearhead Arthritis Foundation efforts to raise funds to establish an endowed chair in pediatric rheumatology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and to partner with Children’s of Alabama to establish a dedicated clinic facility. The clinic opened in 2007 is now one of the largest programs in the country, and is meeting the needs of thousands of children across Alabama and the Southeast Region.

During the Annual Meeting dinner, surprise congratulations were provided by such friends as Mike Warren, CEO of Children’s of Alabama, and Jack Klippel, national CEO of the Arthritis Foundation.  “We are grateful to Brunson for his years of service to the Arthritis Foundation on the local and national level,” says David Popen, CEO of the Arthritis Foundation’s Southeast Region.  “There is not a more deserving person for this highest honor that we give to a volunteer leader each year.  From his personal concern and passion to help children with juvenile arthritis, to his professional expertise that has helped make our organization more effective in many ways, Brunson has helped fulfill our mission from top to bottom.”