Autry O.V. Pete DeBusk is the owner and chairman of DeRoyal Industries located in Knoxville, Tennessee.[1]
DeBusk was born and raised in Rose Hill, Virginia, where he graduated from Thomas Walker High School. After graduating from Lincoln Memorial University, DeBusk began his career in 1965 as a pharmaceutical salesman[2] and regional sales manager.[3] In 1973 DeBusk patented his first medical product, an orthopedic boot, and founded DeRoyal Industries.[4] [5]
DeBusk self-published a book in 2013, "The Rabbit's Got the Gun: The DeRoyal Industries Story," which recounts his business career.
As the chairman of the Lincoln Memorial University Board of Trustees and a member of MedPAC Commission, DeBusk co-founded the Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2007.[6] [7] The Lincoln Memorial University- John J. Duncan, Jr. School of Law, also co-founded by DeBusk, was subsequently denied provisional accreditation by the American Bar Association. However, in the Fall of 2015, the law school received provisional accreditation from the American Bar Association.[8]