By: Brianna Robinson
The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, or AACOM, will honor distinguished leader William G. Anderson, D.O., with the Robert A. Kistner Award in Washington D.C. on March 27, 2020.
Robert A. Kistner served the field of osteopathic medical education for 26 years at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and dedicated his career to advancing the profession. Now in its 20th year, the award is presented to an individual who continues Kistner’s legacy of making significant contributions to the medical education of future osteopathic physicians.
Throughout the course of his career, Anderson has served as a role model for medical students and has held a variety of positions including professor of surgical services in the MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine, founding board member of the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Virginia, as well as a board member for 20 years at the American Osteopathic Association, where he served as its first African-American president in 1994.
Anderson earned his undergraduate degree from Alabama State University in 1949 and received his D.O. certification in 1956 from the Des Moines Still College of Osteopathy and Surgery in Iowa. He began his professional career in Albany, Georgia, where he practiced as a family physician for six years.
Anderson is the founder of the Albany Movement, a coalition of activists including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph D. Abernathy, that led to the desegregation of public facilities in Albany, Georgia.
He continues to be a seminal figure in the struggle for American Civil Rights and has been instrumental in the creation of the “Slavery to Freedom: An American Odyssey” lecture series, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year.