By: Chelsea Knott. (2025, May 9). USC Alumni Association honors Keck alumnus Antonio “Tony” Alamo, MD. Keck School of Medicine of USC.
At the USC Alumni Awards Dinner, the USC Alumni Association presented Antonio “Tony” Alamo MD ’91 with the 2025 USC Alumni Service Award—one of the university’s highest recognitions of alumni who demonstrate outstanding commitment and service to USC and their communities.
A distinguished physician and public servant, Alamo has built an extraordinary medical and state leadership career. After earning his medical degree from the Keck School, he completed his residency at Internal Medicine at Los Angeles General Medical Center and Huntington Memorial Hospital before returning to his hometown of Las Vegas. There, he founded the Alamo Medical Clinic and served as Chief of Staff at two of Nevada’s leading hospitals.
Alamo made history as the first non-attorney to chair the Nevada State Gaming Commission. He previously chaired the Nevada State Athletic Commission, sanctioning some of boxing’s most iconic matches. Despite industry pressures, he consistently demonstrated integrity, most notably voting against Mike Tyson’s licensure in 2002 due to safety concerns.
He volunteered for 20 years as a Tactical Physician for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s SWAT Bureau. In that role, Alamo was the first civilian to receive the department’s prestigious “Medal of Unit Valor” for his courageous service during a hostage situation.
Although he’s based in his hometown of Las Vegas, Alamo remains close to his Trojan roots. He is a member of the President’s Leadership Council and the Keck School’s Board of Councilors. For over 30 years, he has helped interview medical school applicants, regularly mentors current medical students, and has served on many of the school’s teaching panels. Alamo also organized a patient referral network with Keck Medicine of USC and regularly facilitated opportunities for his patients to seek the highest level of care here.
While he maintains a busy professional life as the chief physician executive and chief medical officer for the Nevada Heart and Vascular Center, the largest cardiology group in the state, he always makes time to give back to his alma mater. Alamo currently serves as the president of the Ensign Cancer Research Foundation and helped establish the Ensign Foundation and Tony Alamo, MD, Chair in Medical Education, and the Ensign Foundation and Tony Alamo, MD Professor in Gynecologic Oncology.
We are thrilled to see his impact recognized at this year’s Alumni Awards celebration.
