Dr. Christopher has served as both President and Chairman of the Alabama Academy of Family Physicians.  At the national level, he chaired the American Academy of Family Physicians' Committee on Rural Health.  In 1989, during the height of an obstetrical care crisis in Alabama, he was appointed as a member of a state rural health task force which made several recommendations including the establishment of a Family Practice Rural Health Board to facilitate the education of rural family physicians.

Dr. Christopher was the founding chairman of that Board and continued in that capacity until just recently.  As Chairman, he has overseen the creation of endowed chairs in family medicine at both Alabama medical schools; development of obstetrical fellowships for family physicians; initiation of a pipeline program for students interested in rural medicine; and served as Co-Chair of the Alabama Southern Rural Access Program which is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Dr. Christopher's nominator described him as the epitome of what the modern rural family physician should be - a caring, compassionate person who cares not only about his patients, but about the health of Alabama as a whole.  A major objective of his career has been to leave the practice of medicine in better shape than it was when he began.  This he has accomplished!

The Alabama Rural Health Association is pleased to recognize Neil Christopher, M.D. as the first recipient of this prestigious award.