Aaron Lopez, MD *
Dr. Aaron Lopez was born in 1800 in Charleston, South Carolina. He graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in New York City and in the late 1830s moved to Mobile to practice medicine.
When the Medical Association of the State of Alabama was organized in 1847 in Mobile, Dr. Lopez was appointed Chairman and served as President the following year. In 1852 he was present at the founding session of the American Medical Association and elected vice- president.
In the mid 1850s the MASA appointed Dr. Lopez to “Memorialize the Legislature” and provide funds for a state mental hospital. He was appointed by the Governor to head a commission to accomplish this task. The commission later designed Bryce Hospital. Dr. E. Lamar Thomas of Mt. Brook, Alabama, is his great-great grandson.