Dr. Martin Luther King made a statement that I always hearken back to when I am asked to assess an individual’s worthiness for important leadership roles. He said: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” That is my high standard for anyone who seeks to provide leadership in moving the Republican Party into a new, transformed and high-performing future. I know an individual who exemplifies that standard and would like everyone to get to know him. His name is Dr. Steve Hudson.

When I met Steve Hudson a couple of months ago, shortly after he moved into my neighborhood in Silver Spring, I was immediately impressed with his amazing vitality and drive as he assumed the role of Precinct Chair and with lightening speed, started to become very active in the Party. I quickly learned many things about Steve that made me know that he is indeed a rising superstar within the local, State and National Parties, but it is only recently that I came to understand the depth and breadth of what he brings to the County (and the Country, I would not hesitate to add).

Dr. Hudson has been extremely committed and active in our Party, with a spirit of unrestrained optimism and courage. In October 2007, he volunteered to Chair Precinct 05-16 (Stonegate Elementary School). In his first two months as Chair, he developed a model plan to reach out to Republicans and Independents in our Precinct. He published a newsletter and founded the Neighbors Unite Political Action Committee (NUPAC) to raise funds and unify our precinct behind the eventual 2008 Republican Presidential Nominee. At his own expense, he secured an up-to-date voter registration list and mailed approximately 1200 newsletters, canvassing forms, and open house invitations to every Republican and Independent in our Precinct. This mailing inspired independents to change their registration to Republican before the November 19th deadline, and donations are streaming in to NUPAC. Also included in the newsletter was the Precinct’s new website, www.stonegategop.com, which Hudson also developed. This website provides up-to-date relevant information on voter issues and Precinct activities. It also includes a mock 2008 Presidential Poll! His plan of direct mail canvassing that links Precinct Republicans to real-time information and fundraising via a local website is revolutionary and should serve as a model for all Precincts.

Dr. Hudson has also been active in the 2008 presidential election cycle. He served as a candidate escort for Congressman Duncan Hunter at the Morgan State Republican Debate. He is now running for U.S. Congress in Maryland’s 8th District, and he is also a Huckabee Delegate Candidate to the 2008 Republican National Convention. This month, he attended the Maryland GOP Convention and assisted in hosting a Hospitality Suite for Governor Huckabee at the Conference Hotel in Westminster, which included food, beverages, a running slide show, and excellent opportunities for Republican networking!

Dr. Hudson currently serves as a Commander in the United States Navy Reserves. In 1998, he was deep selected from a pool of highly qualified senior candidates as the “Marine One Flight Surgeon” with the Presidential Helicopter Squadron (HMX-1) in Quantico, Virginia. In this capacity, he provided direct aeromedical support for the President, Vice President, and other foreign dignitaries as directed by the White House Military Office. In 1999, he was awarded the Donald F. Hagen Young Physician Award by the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS). This award is presented annually to a single physician from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Public Health Service or Department of Veterans Affairs “to recognize early accomplishment and future potential in federal health care leadership or to the international community.” In 2000, he was awarded the White House Service Badge and Certificate for “Honorable Service in the White House.” In 2006, Dr. Hudson was selected as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Americans (TOYA) by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce. Of the more than 600 TOYA recipients since 1940, many were recognized before the accomplishments for which they are now known: John F. Kennedy, Gerald R. Ford, Ann Bancroft, Elvis Presley, Peyton Manning, and Larry Holmes, to name a few.

Dr. Hudson holds an M.D. from the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda and completed his medical internship at the National Naval Medical Center. He completed his ophthalmology residency training at the Medical University of South Carolina, where he served as Chief Resident, received the SEI Applause Award for Excellence in Patient Care, and was named Outstanding Resident of the Year in 2005. He is Board Certified in Ophthalmology holds unrestricted licenses to practice medicine and surgery in Maryland and the District of Columbia. Dr. Hudson lives in Silver Spring, MD with his wife, Lori, and their four children, Alaina, Brennan, Chloe, and Avery. He is an ophthalmologist at the Baltimore Washington Eye Center and has offices in Glen Burnie and Clarksville. Dr. Hudson evaluates and treats patients with a wide range of medical and surgical eye diseases and performs LASIK, cataract surgery, glaucoma surgery, and oculoplastic procedures, including cosmetic eye surgery. Hudson also earned his J.D. at the University Of Maryland School of Law, where he was an associate editor of the Maryland Law Review and received the Joseph Bernstein Prize for Excellence in Legal Writing. To top it off, he will receive a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Marist College this month!

With all these awesome accomplishments, unparalleled talent, active and wholesome family life (a wife, 4 small children and 4 dogs!), and pursuits that would make one think there is really three of him, I asked the tongue-in-cheek question: So, what do you do in your spare time? Not expecting that there could possibly be an answer to that question, what I found out instead is that he has managed, with everything else, to have an awesome record of community service and humanitarian activities. He has stepped up “during times of challenge and controversy”, to provide many volunteer services to those who are less fortunate and struck by tragedy. For example, in 2005, he provided expert medical and legal services for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Immediately after the storm, he contacted the Louisiana State Health Department, packed his van with medical supplies, bottled water, bedding, and extra gasoline, and drove from Central Pennsylvania, through the devastation, to Baton Rouge. When he arrived in Louisiana, the medical director assigned him to the “MED-1” acute care unit at the “K-Mart Hospital,” a large field hospital inside of an empty K-mart building. The hospital received patients almost immediately after opening. Dr. Hudson evaluated and treated hundreds of patients with a wide range of medical problems, including lacerations, infections, dehydration, and stress. Utilizing his professional expertise in ophthalmology, he procured free eye medications from local pharmacies and delivered them to victims who had lost their drops in the storm. The indiscriminate effects of Katrina’s human impact were evident as he finished treating an 80-year-old indigent woman who was suffering from thermal burns and lacerations on her back, and he turned his attention to a 40-year-old local college professor who was suffering from incapacitating anxiety because he had lost everything.

I could go on for a long time in enumerating Hudson’s volunteer and humanitarian services such as spending last summer in Africa and Israel performing volunteer eye surgery to our less fortunate brothers and sisters, or his recent travels to the St. John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem to perform surgical mission work. There is too much to tell in one story, but I assure you, we will all be hearing a lot more about this amazing gentleman in the days, months and years to come. So, I wanted to conclude with what his wife had to say about him, because in addition to Dr. King’s message, that is the real measure of a man. Hudson’s wife Lori says this:

“Steve is a man with strong convictions, and he is courageous, which is where his many achievements stem from. The military taught him how to utilize these qualities in every facet of his life, including his family (both as a husband and a father), his career as both a doctor and a lawyer, and the community through volunteer services and playing an active role in the government. He has a very high sense of dedication, and is always striving to learn more from everything he does. He is, by far, the most intelligent man I have ever met. He is a role model father who shows our kids nothing but love and how to enjoy life, and they learn from him every day. They look up to him, and they could not have a better father or role model.