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Speaker and Distinguished Guests
George Rust, MD, MPH, FAAFP, FACPM
2026 DMU Commencement Keynote Speaker
Dr. George Rust is board-certified in both family medicine and public health/preventive medicine. He serves as co-director of the Center for Medicine and Public Health Policy and Practice and as a professor in the behavioral sciences and social medicine department at Florida State University College of Medicine.
Rust has spent his career at the intersection of race, health and poverty, consistently working in settings where he could make a difference. His book, “Healing in a Changing America: Doctoring in a Nation of Needless Suffering,” released in 2025, chronicles the stories of lessons learned, mistakes made and skills acquired during his journey in medicine and public health.
His distinguished career spans clinical medicine, academic leadership, community health and national health policy, with a sustained focus on improving access to care and advancing health equity for underserved populations from inner-city Chicago to the small-town rural South.
Throughout his career, Rust has held numerous leadership positions, including serving as founding director of the National Center for Primary Care at Morehouse School of Medicine and as senior scientific advisor to the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed publications and has received local, state and national recognition for teaching service and contributions to health equity.
Stephen D. Richards, DO’74, RPh, FAAFP
2026 DMU Commencement Grand Marshal
Stephen Richards, DO’74, is a retired physician who enjoyed a fulfilling career in family medicine, served both the U.S. Air Force and Iowa National Guard, and continues to give back through philanthropy and board service.
Richards received his Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Drake University in 1971 alongside his wife, Janice Miller Richards, RPh. He earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences in 1974 while on scholarship from the U.S. Air Force.
After graduation, Richards pursued an internship at Scott Air Force Base Medical Center in Illinois. He applied the knowledge and skills he acquired at DMU while on active duty as a flight surgeon with the 349th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron.
Richards returned to Des Moines and completed a family medicine residency at Broadlawns Medical Center in 1979 before moving to Algona, Iowa, to start a rural practice. Kossuth Regional Health Center, where Richards practiced for more than 30 years, grew into a busy multispecialty clinic, yet he still made time for house calls to visit some of his most complex patients.
Richards served as president of the Iowa Academy of Family Physicians and the Iowa Medical Society, as well as a delegate of the American Academy of Family Physicians to the American Medical Association. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Richards serves on the Des Moines University Board of Trustees and is a member of the Finance and Institutional Advancement Committees. The Richards family is leaving a legacy at DMU through the Richards Learning Studio, the Dr. Stephen and Janice Richards Endowed Scholarship Fund and membership in the Founders Society and President’s Society.
When asked what advice he has for students, Richards says, “Medicine is a special calling and worth all the effort to get there.”