Gerald E. Harmon, MD, a family medicine specialist having practiced for more than 30 years in coastal South Carolina, was elected to the American Medical Association Board of Trustees in June 2013. Prior to his election, Dr. Harmon served our organization as a member on the AMA Council for Medical Service as well as a delegate to the AMA House of Delegates for 18 years.

In South Carolina Dr. Harmon has held several leadership positions in the South Carolina Medical Association, including chairman of the board and president. Dr. Harmon serves as a clinical professor at two of South Carolina’s medical schools, a commitment that has been well recognized as he has been named “Community Educator of the Year” by both the South Carolina Academy of Family Physicians and the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium.

In his hometown Dr. Harmon serves as an adviser to the board of trustees for his community health system and is vice president of a multispecialty physician practice. He is a medical director for several organizations including a non-profit hospice and for the county’s largest home health service agency. He volunteers also as medical supervisor for his local school district’s 23 schools and has been recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award from his county’s Chamber of Commerce. At the state level he has recently completed a term as secretary for the State Aeronautics Commission.

Before his retirement from the military as a major general, Dr. Harmon served the nation in Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, holding responsibilities as chief surgeon for the National Guard Bureau and assistant surgeon general for the U.S. Air Force. His military decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal and the Humanitarian Service Medal.

Dr. Harmon received his undergraduate degree in physics and mathematics from the University of South Carolina and has since been recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus. He received his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina and completed a residency training program in family medicine with the U.S. Air Force at Eglin AFB, Fla.

During the rare times when not actively practicing medicine, Dr. Harmon and his wife, Linda, enjoy spending time outdoors in their coastal hometown of Georgetown with their three married children and seven grandchildren.