Curtis Donaldson promoted to executive director of Rural Medicine Program

Curtis J. Donaldson ’81 has been named executive director of the Rural Medicine Program at the Texas A&M University College of Medicine, beginning June 1. 

Since 2022, he has served as director of the program as well as director for Community Engagement for Rural Texas under the Office of the President, focusing on economic and workforce development efforts in rural Texas. 

In this new role, he will devote the majority of his efforts to the rural medicine program while maintaining his community engagement role with the Office of the President. 

“Curtis has overseen tremendous growth and development in the university’s rural partnership initiatives,” said Amy L. Waer, MD, the Jean and Tom McMullin Endowed Dean of the Texas A&M College of Medicine. “We are delighted that he will now be able to provide even more expertise and energy to addressing the critical issue of health care for rural Texans. As one of our founding community partners, there is no one better who understands the needs of rural Texas and no better advocate for Texas A&M and our Aggie Doctors.” 

Among Donaldson’s successes with the College of Medicine to date, he has placed 52 Aggie medical students in rural rotations, helped 25 rural communities host Aggie externs and provided programs on health care careers to K-12 students in 65 school districts in 45 counties. 

“This is critical to the state’s future because more than three million Texans live in rural areas, and they face profound challenges in getting health care as hospitals close and doctors and other health care professionals are increasingly in short supply,” Waer said. “There are no easy solutions, but we are making progress.” 

In his role with the Office of the President, Donaldson has launched two rural programs—the Attainable Housing Coalition and Rural Community Economic Vitality Initiative—and assisted with developing the university’s Higher Education Center in McAllen. 

After graduating from Texas A&M in 1981, Donaldson served with the U.S. Army National Guard in Odessa, Texas. He then held several leadership positions at ConocoPhillips headquarters in Houston before founding Cleanfuel USA, the nation’s first developer of liquid propane fuel injection systems, in 2013. He served as its managing director until 2017 and then spent five years as vice president of The Commercial Bank in Mason, Texas, before returning to his alma mater. 

While attending Texas A&M, Donaldson was a Ross Volunteer and a member of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band, where he also served as B Company Commander and was a Bugle Rank Member.