Richard Briggs MD

Richard M. Briggs was first elected to the Knox County Commission in 2008 and represented District 5 in Knox County. He was re-elected to a second term in 2010. In 2014, he ran and won the election for the Tennessee State Senate District 7 in Knox County. He was re-elected to a second 4 year term to the Senate in 2018. In the Tennessee Senate, he has served on the Finance Committee, the Transportation Committee, and the Health Committee, as well as the Chairman of the Senate Ethnics Committee. In 2020, Senator Briggs assumed duties as the Chairman of the Senate State and Local Government Committee.

Dr. Briggs earned his B.S. degree from Transylvania University in Lexington, KY, in 1978. Upon graduation from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in 1978, Dr. Briggs entered active military service and rose through the ranks to full Colonel. He served as a combat trauma surgeon during Operation Desert Storm and was awarded the Bronze Star during combat operations. With over 30 years of military service in command and leadership positions, Colonel Briggs in recent years completed combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq in recent years as a senior war trauma surgeon serving wounded American warriors.

Dr. Briggs has practiced heart and lung surgery for over 30 years in Knoxville. He has held academic appointments at the University of Texas-San Antonio, the University of Louisville, and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Dr. Briggs is a past president of the Knoxville Academy of Medicine and served on the Board of Trustees of the Tennessee Medical Association.