©2005 Aetna Inc.
00.12.904.1 (12/04)
AFRICAN
AMERICAN
HISTORY
CALENDAR
2005
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ONE GOAL. To improve lives.
AFRICAN AMERICANS IN PHARMACY
Each day, pharmacists work to improve
overall health and well-being. Whether
it’s the local pharmacist in a community
drugstore, the pharmacist who provides
comfort to animals, or the one who
discovers new drug therapies that can
sustain lives, it is the pharmacist who
is at the heart of healing.
In this 24th edition of the Aetna 2005 African
American History Calendar, you will meet some of the
most accomplished and respected African American
pharmaceutical professionals. Discover the diversity of
a profession that offers a multitude of practice settings,
including military, academia, industry, retail, government
and community. Experience the goals, dreams and
hopes of these individuals, who have dedicated their
lives to finding the perfect prescription for caring.
In addition to the printed version, enjoy the online
version of the 2005 calendar, which features more
extensive profiles and details about the pharmaceutical
professions. Find it at
www.aetna.com/diversity/aahcalendar/2005/index.html.
In the Service of Humanity
Pharmacists are compassionate and caring people who
provide counsel, guidance and expertise to patients,
caregivers and health care professionals regarding drug
therapies. As drug therapy experts, pharmacists consistently strive to look for meaningful ways to impact the
health and quality of life of the patients we serve and
the communities in which we live.
of-health perspective, financial perspective and value
to their overall being. We want to provide actionable
information to physicians that can help them make a
difference in sustaining and improving the health of
the patients they serve. We are in a unique position to
accomplish this through pharmacy integration with
medical, dental, and disability literature and data.
In the service of humanity, pharmacists contribute their
expertise within a multitude of practice environments.
Our knowledge of emerging medical technologies,
current and new medications, and the analysis of
medical literature and data provide the platform for
pharmacists to serve the public in a very unique way.
With the advent of consumerism, pharmacists will
continue to play a major role in health care. Our
profession will continue to evolve as technology and
drug therapy continue to advance. It is my hope that
through this calendar, you will come to understand
the past and current contributions of African Americans
in pharmacy and the roles they will play in the future.
Aetna Pharmacy Management provides information
and resources to help our members make informed
decisions. Our members can balance drug selection,
quality and the affordability of drug therapy options.
As technology continues to advance and drug selection
becomes more vast, we want to position our members
to understand the impact of their choices from a quality-
May the insights you learn as you journey through
the pages of this calendar be a blessing to you.
ONE DREAM.
To discover cures.
Teri’ Yvette Burnell, Pharm.D.
ONE HOPE.
To sustain health.
Teri’ Yvette Burnell, Pharm.D.
Director, Clinical Pharmacy Programs
Aetna Inc.
African American Pharmacists in Health Care
By Ira C. Robinson, Ph.D., R.Ph.
Former Dean and Professor of Pharmacy, Florida AM University College of Pharmacy and Howard University College of Pharmacy
The art of healing through the use of medicines dates
back to prehistoric times and stretches through
Western civilization. Around 1500 when lists of drug
formulas, called pharmacopeias, first appeared, so
began the uphill evolution of the pharmaceutical
profession. While it was common for physicians to
diagnose illnesses, as well as compound and administer
simple medicines, the emergence of apothecaries, the
wholesale trade and pharmacies in city hospitals provided a necessary means for the separation of direct
medical care from drug preparation and dispensing.
Traditionally, pharmacy has been defined as the art and
science of preparing, preserving, compounding and dispensing of drugs. From its early beginnings in America,
pharmacy evolved from self-treatment with herbal
concoctions, poultices and pills to the development of
multidisciplinary clinical medicine dispensers. Today’s
practice is expanded beyond the boundaries of that
outdated definition. In addition to preparing and dispensing drugs, pharmacists counsel patients and other
health care professionals, design increasingly complex
dosage forms, as well as evaluate and monitor patients’
multidrug regimens for safety and efficacy.
Historically, African American pharmacists have been
involved in all practice settings, including management
and staff roles. More African Americans continue to
choose the profession, as evidenced by the rapid growth
of the number of African American pharmacists from
the 1970s to today. Then, there were less than 2,800
African American pharmacists in the United States.
Today, African American pharmacists comprise nearly
9 percent – or almost 19,000 – of an estimated
208,000 pharmacists in the country.
Higher Education
The early training of pharmacists in America was delivered in “schools” operated by local associations and was
composed primarily of an apprenticeship. To meet the
challenges of providing quality pharmaceutical care
services in collaboration with physicians and other
practitioners, pharmacists today complete a six-year
curriculum to earn a doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.)
degree. Some 89 U.S. colleges now offer such programs.
Although Meharry Medical College in Nashville,
Tennessee, is renowned for its training of our earliest
African American pharmacists, other historically black
colleges of pharmacy have emerged over the past three
decades to enroll and graduate the majority of African
American pharmacists in the United States. These
include Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Florida;
Howard University, Washington, D.C.; Texas Southern
University, Houston, Texas; Xavier University of
Louisiana, New Orleans, Louisiana; and Hampton
University, Hampton, Virginia.
African American pharmacy students graduate with
an abundance of career opportunities in community
pharmacies, hospitals, home health care, consulting and
managed care. There also are specialty areas such as
geriatrics, nuclear pharmacy, oncology, pediatrics and
pharmacotherapeutics. Combining the Pharm.D. with
advanced degrees greatly expands one’s career options
even in contemporary practice, as well as in clinical and
scientific research, teaching, entrepreneurship, public
service, and the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.
Professional Organizations
Recognizing the need to form their own alliances to
address common challenges, African Americans established a number of pharmaceutical associations. In
1947, Chauncey Cooper of Howard University
founded the National Pharmaceutical Association for
MANY STORIES.
African Americans
in pharmacy.
African American pharmacists, which was preceded by
the National Negro Medical Association of Physicians,
Dentists and Pharmacists of 1895.
The National Pharmaceutical Foundation founded in
1972 at Florida A&M University (FAMU) brought
together African American pharmacists from all groups
and practice settings, as well as faculty, alumni and
students from the historically black pharmacy colleges.
That same year, the establishment of the Student
National Pharmaceutical Association at FAMU provided
students with mentoring and enrichment opportunities
outside the classroom. In 1978, the African American
members of the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists*
formed their own group, the Association of Black
Hospital Pharmacists.
African Americans also emerged in leadership roles of
national pharmacy associations, including Wendell T.
Hill, Jr., Pharm.D., who served as president of the
American Society of Hospital Pharmacists in 1972;
Mary Munson Runge, R.Ph., who served as chairperson
and president of the American Pharmaceutical
Association** in 1979; Robert D. Gibson, Pharm.D.,
who served as president of the American Association
of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) in the 1990s; and
Henry Cade, M.B.A., who served as the president of the
National Association of Boards of Pharmacy in 1987.
The first African American AACP official was initially
elected secretary-treasurer of its Council of Deans
in 1973.
African American pharmacists will continue to have an
enormous impact on health care in America because of
their high sensitivity to patient needs, quality education,
proven competence, leadership qualities and dedication
to improving access to quality patient care.
* Now known as the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
** Now known as the American Pharmacists Association.
Ira C. Robinson, Ph.D., R.Ph.
References
■
Robinson, Ira C., African American Pharmacists Socioeconomic
Empowerpedia, Robinson Research Resources, Brandon, Fla., 1994.
■
Robinson, Ira C. (Editor), Progress and Problems of Black Pharmacists in
America, 1st Edition, National Pharmaceutical Foundation, Washington,
D.C., 1977.
■
Robinson, Ira C., “Black Pharmacists Today: Only 2,800 Are Available,”
American Druggist, April 1982.
■
Bureau of Health Professions, “The Pharmacist Workforce: A Study of the
Supply and Demand for Pharmacists,” Health Resources and Services
Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington,
D.C., December 2000.
■
“Academic Pharmacy’s Vital Statistics,” American Association of Colleges
of Pharmacy, Alexandria, Va., February 2004.
Henry Lewis III, Pharm.D., and
Marisa A. Lewis, Pharm.D., M.P.H.
Tallahassee, Florida
Chemistry is extremely important in the pharmaceutical field –
especially when it’s between two prestigious and ambitious
pharmacists who are married to one another.
“Working in the same field gives us the opportunity to
have dialogue on issues impacting what we do each day,”
Dr. Henry Lewis III, professor and director in the College
of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences at Florida A&M
University (FAMU), said of his wife, Dr. Marisa Lewis.
“We see things from a different vantage point. It’s been
very helpful.”
Today, the two accomplished pharmacists spend their days in
a university setting leading, training and educating students,
and then go home to consult with one another. “I am always
looking for fresh ideas, and it’s very helpful to get Henry’s
perspective on things,” said Marisa Lewis, who is currently
the executive director of the Student National Pharmaceutical
Association (SNPhA) and an associate professor at FAMU.
After more than 30 years in the pharmaceutical field,
Henry Lewis’ experiences have been extensive. Since he
began teaching and administration at FAMU in 1974,
enrollment in the pharmacy program has increased by over
600 percent, the college has added three new Ph.D. programs,
graduated 60 percent of the African American Ph.D.
recipients in the pharmaceutical sciences, and produced
25 percent of the nation’s black pharmacists.
One of Henry Lewis’ proudest achievements recently came
to fruition – the completion of a new 126,000-square-foot,
$33 million state-of-the-art College of Pharmacy building at
FAMU. “It’s a dream that has been five years in the making,”
Henry Lewis said. “To see the energy of the 1,200 students
from more than 33 states in the U.S. as well as foreign
countries utilizing this outstanding training facility is
exhilarating.”
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01
He believes his career path has been led by divine intervention. “Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that
all this was within my reach. I believe that success is the intersection of where opportunity meets preparation,” he said.
Marisa Lewis shares her husband’s belief in divine guidance.
“Initially, I was unsure if I wanted to practice medicine or
pharmacy. I was led to pharmacy, and pharmacy has been
wonderful to me.”
Like her husband, Marisa Lewis also has spent most of her
career in academia. But she believes her previous experiences
in retail and hospital pharmacy as well as in corporate
America as a medical information specialist have paved the
way. “My true love is working with students,” she said.
“They motivate me.”
She takes pride in promoting the profession. In 1999 and
2000 she served as auxiliary spokesperson and spokesperson,
respectively, for the American Pharmaceutical Association –
McNeil Consumer Health Care’s Partnership for Self-Care
and Medicine Cabinet Safety campaigns. In 2004 she was
recognized by the National Pharmaceutical Association with
its highest honor for her service to the organization.
If Henry Lewis one day becomes a university president,
Marisa Lewis plans to be at his side. They got a taste of that
leadership responsibility when he served as interim president
of FAMU in 2002. “I want to be supportive of him in every
way so that we complement one another,” she said.
“Whatever happens with our careers, we will continue to
support each other and mentor students.”
“We are in the business of dream making,” Henry Lewis
said. “I believe that you measure success not by your own
personal achievement, but by the achievement of people
with whom you have the opportunity to come in contact.”
ONE GOAL: To entor
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“I believe that success is the intersection of where opportunity
meets preparation.”
Dr. Henry Lewis III
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
1
New Year’s Day
1863: Abraham Lincoln issues
Emancipation Proclamation.
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3
4
5
6
7
8
1965: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. calls for
nonviolent protests if Alabama blacks are not
allowed to register and vote.
1624: William Tucker, first African child born
in America.
1920: Andrew “Rube” Foster organizes
first black baseball league, the Negro
National League.
1971: The Congressional Black Caucus organized.
1943: George Washington Carver, agricultural
scientist, dies.
1831: The World Anti-Slavery Convention
opens in London.
1890: William B. Purvis patents fountain pen.
1955: Marian Anderson debuts as first black
to perform at Metropolitan Opera.
1811: Charles Deslandes leads slave revolt
in Louisiana.
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10
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15
1866: Fisk University founded in Nashville,
Tennessee.
1906: Paul Laurence Dunbar, poet
and writer, dies.
1864: George Washington Carver, agricultural
scientist and inventor, born.
1940: Benjamin O. Davis Sr. becomes U.S.
Army’s first black general.
1948: Supreme Court rules blacks have right
to study law at state institutions.
1990: L. Douglas Wilder inaugurated as
first African American governor (Virginia)
since Reconstruction.
1975: William T. Coleman named secretary
of transportation.
1929: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a major
voice for civil rights in the 20th century, born.
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22
1978: NASA names African American
astronauts Maj. Frederick D. Gregory,
Maj. Guion S. Bluford Jr. and
Dr. Ronald E. McNair.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday
observed
1942: Three-time heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) born.
1856: Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, pioneer heart
surgeon, born.
1918: John H. Johnson, editor and publisher
of Ebony and Jet magazines, born.
1993: Maya Angelou, a great voice of contemporary literature, delivers On the Pulse of
Morning at the presidential inauguration.
2001: Colin Powell sworn in as first black
secretary of state.
1870: Hiram Revels elected first black U.S.
senator, replacing Jefferson Davis for the
Mississippi seat.
1949: James Robert Gladden becomes first
black certified in orthopedic surgery.
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1891: Dr. Daniel Hale Williams founds
Provident Hospital in Chicago, the first
training hospital for black doctors and
nurses in the U.S.
1865: Congress passes 13th Amendment,
which, on ratification, abolishes slavery.
1851: Sojourner Truth addresses first Black
Women’s Rights Convention, Akron, Ohio.
1954: Dr. Theodore K. Lawless, dermatologist,
awarded the Spingarn Medal for research in
skin-related diseases.
1961: Leontyne Price, world-renowned opera
singer, makes her Metropolitan Opera debut.
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1844: Richard Theodore Greener becomes
first black to graduate from Harvard.
1919: Jackie Robinson, first black to
play in major league baseball, born.
January 2005
1998: Sarah “Madam C.J.” Walker, first
black female millionaire, honored on U.S.
postage stamp.
AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY CALENDAR
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1926: Violette Neatly Anderson becomes first
black woman lawyer to argue a case before
the Supreme Court.
A service-oriented person, Colbert has dedicated his practice
of pharmacy and his specialized knowledge to helping others.
As an officer in the U.S. Army and a decorated veteran of
Operation Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Bosnia, he has
practiced pharmacy on four different continents, where he
helped care for soldiers. “At the time I joined the Army, I
had never been involved in anything more stressful than the
Boy Scouts,” Colbert recalled. “Being in a position to take
care of wounded soldiers was one of the most satisfying
things that I have done with my pharmacy training.”
Although he specializes in pediatrics, Colbert recognizes that
caring for children is not his only job. “When you work with
children, by definition, you work with families. I establish
that I am there for them as well as for their children,” he
said. “I am truly in my element when I am teaching families
about their children’s medication issues. In many ways, I look at
myself as the applied chemist on the team. My expertise is in the
specific use of these chemicals in young children to promote
positive medical outcomes.”
Today, Colbert is active in pediatric care associations, including
the Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group, the Southern
California Pediatric Group and the UCSD Sickle Cell Support
Group, which provides education to parents and families about
sickle cell disease. He has been selected Pharmacist of the
Year in San Diego, and was named a Health Hero by the
Combined Health Agencies (CHAD).
James Colbert, Pharm.D.
San Diego, California
For Dr. James Colbert, there was no higher calling than to
work with children. So began his path to becoming the clinical
manager and education coordinator at a California medical
center, and his life quest to become a “difference maker.”
He took his own inspiration from childhood – a family
pharmacist named Jim McMillan – and quickly learned that
in pharmacy you could make a difference. “Not only was
Mr. McMillan able to help people with their medication
issues, he also helped with their life issues. He was a ‘difference maker,’ and I wanted to make a difference too,” he said.
ONE GOAL: To
Although in pharmacy for 23 years, Colbert is eager to continue his education. “I am a living example of how obtaining
an education and taking advantage of the opportunities can
truly elevate your standing in society,” he said. “We are by
definition lifelong learners. The information we need to know
seems to increase logarithmically with each passing year.”
Colbert looks forward to continuing his community work
and inspiring others. “If I were to paraphrase the words of
four of my favorite authors and philosophers – Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Frost, Albert Einstein and
Langston Hughes,” he said, “my advice to others would
probably go something like this: ‘Dare to dream and be
opportunistic (King), be imaginative (Einstein), understand
others and help them understand you (Hughes), but don’t
spend too much time admiring your successes because there
is too much work to do (Frost).’”
repare
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“I am a living example of how obtaining an education and taking
advantage of the opportunities can truly elevate your standing in society.”
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
1
2
3
4
5
1902: Langston Hughes, poet, born.
1915: Biologist Ernest E. Just receives
Spingarn Medal for research in fertilization
and cell division.
1956: Autherine Lucy enrolls as the first
black student at the University of Alabama.
1913: Rosa Parks, civil rights pioneer who
sparked 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, born.
1884: Willis Johnson patents eggbeater.
1934: Hank Aaron, major league home-run
champion, born.
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12
1993: Arthur Ashe Jr., tennis player,
humanitarian and activist, dies.
1883: Ragtime pianist and composer
Eubie Blake born.
1968: Three South Carolina State
students killed during segregation protest
in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
Ash Wednesday
1964: Arthur Ashe Jr. becomes first black
on U.S. Davis Cup team.
1927: Leontyne Price, internationally
acclaimed opera singer, born.
1992: Alex Haley, Pulitzer Prize-winning
author, dies.
1990: Nelson Mandela of South Africa
is released from prison after 27 years.
Lincoln’s Birthday
1909: NAACP founded in New York City.
1927: Xavier University of Louisiana College
of Pharmacy founded.
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1970: Joseph L. Searles becomes first African
American member of New York Stock Exchange.
Valentine’s Day
1817: Frederick Douglass, “the Great
Emancipator,” born.
1961: U.N. sessions disrupted by U.S.
and African nationalists over assassination
of Congo Premier Patrice Lumumba.
1874: Frederick Douglass elected president
of Freedman’s Bank and Trust.
1938: Mary Frances Berry, first woman
to serve as chancellor of a major research
university (University of Colorado), born.
1931: Toni Morrison, winner of 1988 Pulitzer
Prize for her novel Beloved, born.
1919: First Pan-African Congress, organized
by W.E.B. DuBois, held in Paris.
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1895: Frederick Douglass, leading voice
in the abolitionist movement, dies.
Presidents’ Day
1965: Malcolm X assassinated in New York.
Washington’s Birthday
1989: Col. Frederick D. Gregory becomes
first African American to command a space
shuttle mission.
1868: W.E.B. DuBois, scholar, activist and
author of The Souls of Black Folk, born.
1864: Rebecca Lee Crumpler becomes first
black woman to receive a medical degree
(New England Female Medical College).
1853: First black YMCA organized
in Washington, D.C.
1965: Civil rights activist Jimmie Lee
Jackson dies after being shot by state police
in Marion, Alabama.
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1897: Marian Anderson, world-renowned
opera singer and civil rights activist, born.
1984: Michael Jackson, musician and
entertainer, wins eight Grammy Awards.
February 2005
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Sybil Richard, R.Ph., M.H.A., Esq.
Tallahassee, Florida
When it comes to the pharmaceutical field, Sybil Richard
is all about policy. As Florida’s Bureau Chief of Medicaid
Pharmacy Services, she oversees the entire Florida Medicaid
pharmacy budget, yet she knows there is much more to
health care policy than crunching numbers.
Today, Richard works on Medicaid budgets and reimbursements, as well as with individual cases and physicians on
coverage policies and clinical issues. “When I took this job,
I considered myself financially challenged,” Richard said.
“Now I balance a $2.2 billion budget and have a staff of 20.”
“Growing up in New Orleans, I was always interested in
health care. I was intrigued by the community pharmacist
standing high up on a box,” Richard said. “Pharmacists are
the last point of contact before individuals take their health
into their own hands. I enjoyed having influence at that
point of care.”
Because Medicaid by definition exists to serve the lowincome population, Richard has firsthand experience with
health care disparities among different populations. She
hopes to continue to expand her knowledge of broader
health care issues, and to play an integral role in the future
of the Medicaid and Medicare programs. “Florida is one of
the largest Medicaid states, but we are also one of the most
innovative states in the country,” Richard said. “I am really
proud to be a part of that.”
After graduating with a pharmacy degree from Xavier
University, Richard worked in a retail community pharmacy
before enrolling at Indiana University to pursue a dual
degree in health administration and law. “I wanted to be in
a position to help people get answers,” she said. Her role
model, younger sister Christie, also is a pharmacist.
Richard had her first opportunity to work in health care policy
with the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, which
represent the views and policy positions of chain community
pharmacies. She was part of a team that reviewed laws and
rules, analyzed impacts and helped communicate messages
about the value and role of community retail pharmacy.
Richard also enjoys her role as a mentor to pharmacy students.
“The profession has grown so much, and there are many
career options for pharmacists,” she said. “I tell students to
know their hearts and do what feels right. There are a lot
of dream killers, so they have to be committed to following
their dreams.”
As far as her own dreams, Richard aspires to one day be at
the helm of health and human services for the country. She
realizes it’s a big job that requires a much broader focus on
health care issues, which is why she’s devoted to expanding
her own knowledge. Now, she’s serving on the federal
commission for the State Prescription Assistance Transition
Program, which is helping to develop transitions to
Medicare for people on Medicaid.
“I enjoy being part of the creative process that shapes health
care policy,” she said. “Before I come to work each day I
think how what I accomplish will impact today and what
I can do to take it forward.”
ONE GOAL: To hape
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SUNDAY
“I enjoy being part of the creative process that shapes
health care policy.”
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
1
2
3
4
5
1914: Ralph Ellison, author, born.
1867: Congress enacts charter to establish
Howard University.
1865: Freedmen’s Bureau established by
federal government to aid newly freed slaves.
1965: Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics
honored as NBA most valuable player
for fourth time in five years.
1770: Crispus Attucks becomes one of the
first casualties of the American Revolution.
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12
1857: Supreme Court issues Dred Scott decision.
1965: Supreme Court upholds key provisions
of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
1951: The National Pharmaceutical
Association incorporated under the laws
of the state of Delaware.
1977: Henry L. Marsh III becomes first African
American elected mayor of Richmond, Virginia.
1841: Amistad mutineers freed by
Supreme Court.
1869: Robert Tanner Freeman becomes
first black to receive a degree in dentistry.
1913: Harriet Tubman, abolitionist and
Civil War nurse, dies.
1959: Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun
opens at Barrymore Theater, New York, the first
play by a black woman to premiere on Broadway.
1932: Andrew Young, former U.N. ambassador and former mayor of Atlanta, born.
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1773: Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable, black
pioneer and explorer, founded Chicago.
1956: Montgomery bus boycott ends when
municipal bus service is desegregated.
1947: John Lee, first black commissioned
officer in the U.S. Navy, assigned to duty.
1827: Freedom’s Journal, the first U.S. black
newspaper, is founded.
1846: Rebecca Cole, second black female
physician in the U.S., born.
St. Patrick’s Day
1885: William F. Cosgrove patents automatic
stop plug for gas and oil pipes.
1890: Charles B. Brooks patents street sweeper.
1822: The Phoenix Society, a literary and
educational group, founded by blacks
in New York City.
1971: The Rev. Leon Sullivan elected to board
of directors of General Motors.
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Palm Sunday
1883: Jan E. Matzeliger patents
shoemaking machine.
1965: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leads
march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama,
for voting rights.
1898: J.W. Smith patents lawn sprinkler.
1873: Slavery abolished in Puerto Rico.
1907: Nurse and aviator Janet Harmon Bragg
born.
Good Friday
1931: Ida B. Wells-Barnett, journalist,
anti-lynching activist and founding
member of the NAACP, dies.
1872: Thomas J. Martin patents fire extinguisher.
1911: William H. Lewis becomes U.S. assistant
attorney general.
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Easter
1924: Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan, “The Divine
One,” born.
1930: Of the 116,000 blacks in professional
positions, more than two-thirds were teachers
or ministers.
1870: Jonathan S. Wright becomes first black
state supreme court justice in South Carolina.
1918: Pearl Bailey, singer and actor, born.
1870: Fifteenth Amendment ratified,
guaranteeing voting rights to blacks.
1988: Toni Morrison wins Pulitzer Prize
for Beloved.
March 2005
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Sylester Flowers, R.Ph.
Pleasanton, California
A practicing pharmacist for 46 years, Sylester Flowers has
seen the profession become increasingly specialized and
complex over the years, with multichain drugstores slowly
edging out the neighborhood pharmacies. He misses those
days when pharmacists owned their own stores and were
respected community figures.
As a poor child growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
Flowers dreamed of improving his economic class and saw
pharmacy as a chance to become a professional. “I thought
there was something charming about the profession because
the old-fashioned pharmacist had a soda fountain in his store,”
Flowers said. After graduating from Howard University’s
School of Pharmacy, getting licensed to practice in three
states and years of saving, Flowers opened his first pharmacy,
eventually owning at one point six community pharmacies.
Today he operates a single state-of-the-art facility serving an
ethnically diverse low-income community.
“The pharmacist is the most accessible person of the health
care team. You don’t need an appointment to see a pharmacist.
We have the opportunity to take care of the underserved
within their environments,” he said.
While remaining a community advocate, Flowers looked
for business opportunities. In 1967, he formed Ramsell
Corporation, which manages several companies, including
the Public Health Services Bureau, a pharmacy benefits
management (PBM) company that serves the medically indigent with HIV/AIDS in Washington state and California.
Devoted to improving this country’s HIV/AIDS drug programs, he donates his time and money to groundbreaking
research in health administration technology. “My driving
ambition is to centralize the AIDS assistance programs in
the United States so that the level of funding is not based on
the policies of individual states but on a centralized federally
sponsored program for every eligible patient,” he said.
To help move his ideas forward, Flowers has invested in a
team of IT scientists who are working at making the program
more accessible. “There are no shortcuts to experience. This
field is highly specialized, and no other company in the U.S.
has our level of experience. Technology gives us the tools to
efficiently centralize the program and use our nation’s health
care resources wisely and efficiently.” Now in its beta stage
after two years, he hopes to have the full application ready
before his 70th birthday in June.
He credits his drive to succeed to a motivational upbringing.
“My mother would not allow my brother or me to use being
African American as an excuse,” he said. “There is nothing
like the opportunity that America provides. I was a kid who
grew up in the projects, worked for an education and now
has a successful company. Through my mother’s mentoring,
I learned that anything is possible if you prepare yourself well.”
Flowers continues to prepare himself well for the future. “I
have retained my competence as a scientist by continually
learning, reading, and attending conferences and seminars.
My challenge each day is to stay motivated and continue to
keep the wheels turning, because you never know when the
wheels will stop.”
ONE GOAL: To ocus
x
04
“My driving ambition is to centralize the AIDS
assistance programs in the United States.”
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
1
1950: Blood research pioneer Charles R.
Drew dies.
1989: Bill White elected president
of the National Baseball League.
3
Daylight Saving Time Begins
1826: Poet-orator James Madison Bell, author
of the Emancipation Day poem “The Day
and the War,” born.
1990: Sarah Vaughan, jazz singer known
as “The Divine One,” dies.
10
1943: Arthur Ashe, first black to win the U.S.
Open and men’s singles title at Wimbledon, born.
1947: Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson
becomes first black to play major league baseball.
17
1983: Alice Walker wins Pulitzer Prize for
fiction for The Color Purple.
1990: Ralph David Abernathy, civil rights
leader, dies.
24
1944: United Negro College Fund incorporated.
4
1968: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
11
1899: Percy Julian, developer of physostigmine
and synthetic cortisone, born.
1966: Emmett Ashford becomes first black
umpire in the major leagues.
18
1995: Margo Jefferson receives Pulitzer Prize
for criticism.
25
1918: Ella Fitzgerald, “First Lady of Song,” born.
April 2005
5
1951: Washington, D.C., Municipal Court of
Appeals outlaws segregation in restaurants.
12
1983: Harold Washington becomes first
African American elected mayor of Chicago.
19
1972: Stationed in Germany, Major Gen.
Frederic E. Davidson becomes first African
American to lead an Army division.
26
1888: Sarah Boone patents ironing board.
6
7
1909: Matthew A. Henson reaches North
Pole, 45 minutes before Robert E. Peary.
13
1915: Jazz and blues legend Billie Holiday born.
1959: Lorraine Hansberry becomes first black
playwright to win New York Drama Critics
Award (for A Raisin in the Sun).
14
1950: Historian Carter G. Woodson, author
of The Miseducation of the Negro, dies.
1997: Tiger Woods wins Masters Golf
Tournament.
20
1775: First abolitionist society in U.S. founded
in Philadelphia.
21
1894: Dr. Lloyd A. Hall, pioneering food
chemist, born.
27
1966: Pfc. Milton L. Olive III awarded
posthumously the Medal of Honor for valor
in Vietnam.
28
Administrative Professionals Day
1968: Dr. Vincent Porter becomes first black
certified in plastic surgery.
1839: Cinque leads Amistad mutiny off
the coast of Long Island, New York.
8
1974: Atlanta Braves slugger Hank Aaron hits
715th career home run, surpassing Babe Ruth
as the game’s all-time home-run leader.
15
1964: Sidney Poitier becomes first black
to win Academy Award for Best Actor
for Lilies of the Field.
22
1922: Jazz bassist and composer
Charles Mingus born.
29
1899: Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington,
jazz musician and composer, born.
AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY CALENDAR
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SATURDAY
2
1984: Georgetown coach John Thompson
becomes first African American coach to
win the NCAA basketball tournament.
9
1898: Paul Robeson, actor, singer, activist, born.
16
1862: Slavery abolished in the District
of Columbia.
23
Passover Begins (sundown)
1856: Granville T. Woods, inventor of the
steam boiler and automobile air brakes, born.
1872: Charlotte E. Ray is first black woman
admitted to the District of Columbia Bar.
30
1952: Dr. Louis T. Wright honored by
American Cancer Society for his contributions
to cancer research.
When she first entered the field 32 years ago, Augustus
faced her own barriers. As a black woman, she found it very
difficult to find a place that would allow her to practice
pharmacy. After years of hard work and perseverance, doors
began to open for her. Today, she does not see as many
barriers within the profession.
In fact, throughout her career, she has witnessed many
positive changes in the industry. “When I first started at
the college, there were very few women in the 35-student
classes,” she said. “Now we have classes of more than
100 students that contain more women than men.”
According to Augustus, the key to being successful in the
veterinary industry is to truly care about those you are
serving. “To be involved in this field, you need an interest
in patients, the knowledge and confidence to challenge students and clinical staff, and the ability to be responsive to
the owners who love and care about their animals,” she said.
Although Augustus enjoys the hands-on practice of pharmacy,
she has always wanted to teach. After completing her doctorate in pharmacy by taking evening classes for 16 months,
she now has the opportunity to provoke student thinking.
She’s currently instructing 15 hours a semester and looks
forward to teaching more medical pharmacology courses.
“I enjoy teaching because I’ve found that veterinary students
are intimidated by drug knowledge. I like finding ways to
present the material so that it makes sense,” she said.
Marvene Augustus,
Pharm.D., R.Ph.
“Veterinary medicine is different from human medicine
because animal doses and dosage forms are so distinct,” she
said. “Every species has different needs, tastes and dosages.”
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dr. Marvene Augustus knows that her patients appreciate
her love and compassion – even if they can’t thank her in
words. As pharmacy manager, instructor and adjunct professor at Louisiana State University’s School of Veterinary
Medicine, Augustus teaches students how to compound and
administer medication to animals, ranging from household
cats and dogs to exotic birds and horses.
ONE GOAL: To each
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05
SUNDAY
Augustus always had a profound interest in pharmacy and
an even deeper love of animals, but she never imagined that
the two would merge into a career. After graduating from
pharmacy school and accepting a job at Upjohn’s manufacturing company in Michigan, she learned of an opportunity
to establish a pharmacy in the school of veterinary medicine
at Louisiana State University. “In veterinary medicine once a
person gets involved, he or she rarely leaves the profession.
This is because there is a lot of job satisfaction. It’s both
challenging and different,” she said.
Even with retirement looming, Augustus has no plans to
slow down. From spending time with her two grandchildren
and attending church, to fitting in her coveted trips to the
Caribbean and family dinners on Sundays, Augustus’ life is
hectic, yet more fulfilling than ever. “I enjoy not knowing
what the next day will be like,” Augustus said. “I think it’s
important to ask: ‘What are we going to do with today?’”
“To be involved in this field, you need an interest in patients, and the knowledge
and confidence to challenge students and clinical staff.”
MONDAY
TUESDAY
1
2
3
1867: First four students enter Howard University.
1998: Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther,
author, dies.
1844: Inventor Elijah McCoy, “the real McCoy,”
born.
1995: Shirley Jackson assumed chairmanship
of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
1964: Frederick O’Neal becomes first black
president of Actors’ Equity Association.
8
9
10
Mother’s Day
1983: Lena Horne awarded Spingarn Medal
for distinguished career in entertainment.
1899: John Albert Burr patents lawn mower.
1950: Boston Celtics select Chuck Cooper,
first black player drafted to play in NBA.
15
16
17
1820: Congress declares foreign slave trade
an act of piracy, punishable by death.
1927: Dr. William Harry Barnes becomes
first black certified by a surgical board.
1954: Supreme Court declares segregation
in public schools unconstitutional in Brown v.
Board of Education.
22
23
24
1921: Shuffle Along, a musical featuring
a score by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle,
opens on Broadway.
1900: Sgt. William H. Carney becomes first black
awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
1854: Lincoln University (Pa.), first black
college, founded.
29
30
31
1901: Granville T. Woods patents overhead
conducting system for the electric railway.
1973: Tom Bradley becomes first black
mayor of Los Angeles.
Memorial Day Observed
1947: The National Pharmaceutical Association
founded to address the interests and needs
of minority pharmacists.
1965: Vivian Malone becomes first black
to graduate from the University of Alabama.
1870: Congress passes the first Enforcement
Act, providing stiff penalties for those who
deprive others of civil rights.
May 2005
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
4
1961: Freedom Riders begin protesting segregation of interstate bus travel in the South.
11
1895: Composer William Grant Still, first black
to conduct a major American symphony
orchestra, born.
18
1896: In Plessy v. Ferguson, Supreme Court
upholds doctrine of “separate but equal”
education and public accommodations.
25
1926: Jazz trumpeter Miles Dewey Davis born.
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
5
6
7
1950: Gwendolyn Brooks becomes first black to
win a Pulitzer Prize in poetry for “Annie Allen.”
1988: Eugene Antonio Marino installed as first
U.S. African American Roman Catholic archbishop.
1812: Physician, author, explorer Martin R.
Delaney, first black officer in Civil War, born.
1991: Smithsonian Institution approves creation
of the National African American Museum.
1845: Mary Eliza Mahoney, America’s
first black trained nurse, born.
1878: Joseph R. Winters patents first fire
escape ladder.
12
13
14
1820: The New York African Free School
population reaches 500.
1872: Matilda Arabella Evans, first black woman
to practice medicine in South Carolina, born.
1913: Clara Stanton Jones, first black president
of the American Library Association, born.
19
20
21
1925: Malcolm X born Malcolm Little
in Omaha, Nebraska.
1993: University of Virginia professor
Rita Dove appointed U.S. Poet Laureate.
1961: U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy
dispatches U.S. marshals to Montgomery,
Alabama, to restore order in the Freedom
Rider crisis.
Armed Forces Day
1833: Blacks enroll for the first time
at Oberlin College, Ohio.
26
27
28
1961: During Kennedy administration, Marvin
Cook named ambassador to Niger Republic, the
first black envoy named to an African nation.
1919: Sarah “Madam C.J.” Walker, cosmetics
manufacturer and first black female millionaire,
dies.
1942: Dorie Miller, a ship‘s steward, awarded
Navy Cross for heroism during the attack on
Pearl Harbor in 1941.
1948: National Party wins whites-only
elections in South Africa and begins
to institute policy of apartheid.
AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY CALENDAR
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He then spent two years in Germany as a pharmacist for the
United States Army and returned home to practice pharmacy
at John Gaston Hospital, where he worked for 12 years.
After another 12 years as a pharmacist in a chain drugstore,
he was ready to return to his roots – literally.
Champion opened his first independent pharmacy in 1981,
and 10 years later bought his own land and building. The
2,900-square-foot location was designed to include a large
herb shop along with a regular pharmacy, an area for
receiving and fulfilling Internet orders, a counseling room
for patients, and a compounding room.
Charles A. Champion,
D.Ph.
Memphis, Tennessee
The next time you have a bad cough, you might be surprised
if your pharmacist instructs you to cook a bulb of garlic in
apple cider vinegar, add some honey and enjoy the benefits
of your homemade cough syrup. But at Champion Pharmacy
and Herb Store in Memphis, Tennessee, this remedy is just
what the doctor ordered.
Dr. Charles A. Champion, a registered pharmacist and expert
herbalist, is recognized for his ability to integrate modern
pharmacy with the healing powers of herbs. A pharmacist
since the early 1950s, he has witnessed the field’s shift from
natural remedies to scientifically produced medications, and
he believes both methods have merit.
His familiarity with what he calls “folk medicine” began in
his childhood, where it was common for families who could
not afford health care to rely on natural cures. He studied
pharmacognacy at Xavier University in New Orleans,
Louisiana, which focuses on the medicinal properties of
plants, animals and minerals. “Having gone to school in
New Orleans, I learned about the unique culture there,
where it was very typical to know about voodoo and herbs,”
Champion said.
Today, Champion says that alternative products make up
approximately 65 percent of his profit. “The independents
are still struggling. However, I don’t consider myself in
competition with the chain stores because my business is
different. People still want the personal attention that we
provide, and in some cases they are willing to come from
miles away to get it,” he said.
Champion’s dedication to his practice not only impacts his
clients, but also influences his family. His wife, Carolyn
Champion, is a pharmacy technician; and his oldest
daughter, Chandra Champion, is a certified pharmacist technician. His other two pharmacist daughters are Dr. Charita
Champion-Brookins and Dr. Carol “Cookie” Champion.
With an entire family dedicated to scientific endeavors, 74year-old Champion has no plans to retire in the near future.
“When you retire you die, so I have a feeling I will always be
practicing pharmacy, even when I’m up there,” he said.
ONE GOAL: To are
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06
SUNDAY
“I decided to pursue herbal medicine because I wanted to
satisfy my clientele, which was asking for herbal supplements
such as wild cherry, quinine and golden seal,” he said. “At
times it was difficult – I remember going to association
meetings and being laughed at by my peers – but I believe
it’s such an intricate part of an independent pharmacy.”
“People still want the personal attention that we provide, and in some
cases they are willing to come from miles away to get it.”
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
1
2
3
4
1968: Henry Lewis becomes first black musical
director of an American symphony orchestra
— New Jersey Symphony.
1971: Samuel L. Gravely Jr. becomes first
African American admiral in U.S. Navy.
1890: L.H. Jones patents corn harvester.
1904: Charles R. Drew, who developed
process for preserving blood plasma, born.
1967: Bill Cosby receives an Emmy Award
for his work in the television series I Spy.
1972: Activist Angela Davis acquitted
of all murder and conspiracy charges.
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
1987: Dr. Mae C. Jemison becomes first
African American woman astronaut.
1831: First annual People of Color convention
held in Philadelphia.
1917: Poetess Gwendolyn Brooks, first black
to win the Pulitzer Prize (poetry, 1950), born.
1953: Supreme Court ruling bans discrimination
in Washington, D.C., restaurants.
1962: W.W. Braithwaite, poet, anthologist
and literary critic, dies in New York City.
1995: Lincoln J. Ragsdale, pioneer fighter
pilot of World War II, dies.
1854: James Augustine Healy, first black
Roman Catholic bishop, is ordained a priest
in Notre Dame Cathedral.
1964: Nelson Mandela sentenced to life
imprisonment by South African government.
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
1963: Medgar W. Evers, civil rights leader,
assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi.
1967: Thurgood Marshall nominated to
Supreme Court by President Lyndon Johnson.
Flag Day
1864: Congress rules equal pay for all soldiers.
1927: George Washington Carver patents
process of producing paints and stains.
1913: Dr. Effie O’Neal Ellis, first black woman
to hold an executive position in the American
Medical Association, born.
1970: Kenneth A. Gibson elected mayor of
Newark, New Jersey, first African American
mayor of a major Eastern city.
1775: Minuteman Peter Salem fights
in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
1942: Harvard University medical student
Bernard Whitfield Robinson commissioned
as the Navy’s first black officer.
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Father’s Day
1865: Blacks in Texas are notified of
Emancipation Proclamation, issued
in 1863. “Juneteenth” marks the event.
1953: Albert W. Dent of Dillard University elected
president of the National Health Council.
1945: Col. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes first
black to command an Army Air Corps base.
1897: William Barry patents postmarking
and cancelling machine.
1940: Sprinter Wilma Rudolph, winner of three
gold medals at 1960 Summer Olympics, born.
1964: Carl T. Rowan appointed director
of the United States Information Agency.
1941: Franklin D. Roosevelt issues executive
order establishing Fair Employment Practices
Commission.
26
27
28
29
30
1975: Dr. Samuel Blanton Rosser becomes first
African American certified in pediatric surgery.
1991: Supreme Court Justice Thurgood
Marshall announces his retirement.
1864: Fugitive slave laws repealed by Congress.
1911: Samuel J. Battle becomes first black
policeman in New York City.
1886: Photographer James Van Der Zee born.
1921: Charles S. Gilpin awarded Spingarn
Medal for his performance in Eugene O’Neill’s
Emperor Jones.
June 2005
AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY CALENDAR
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Lieutenant Colonel Jasper W. Watkins III, M.S.A., R.Ph., N.P., B.C.N.P.
Falls Church, Virginia
It was the Physicians’ Desk Reference® (PDR) that first
inspired LTC Jasper Watkins III to seek training in the
pharmaceutical field. Living in Okinawa, Japan, where his
father was stationed as a military cook, Watkins was selected
to participate in a summer pharmacy youth work program.
There, he often saw doctors poring over this cryptic book,
and he was intrigued. “Instead of being the one to query
the book, I wanted to be the one to comprehend the book,”
said Watkins.
between sunup and sundown on certain days, it can affect
their treatment. We have to figure out ways to address patients
by relating their medications to their daily activities,” said
Watkins.
The military has allowed Watkins to practice in many areas,
from the front lines, to administration and policy, to administering medications. “It is my goal to be part of the health
care team that creates a standard of excellence that delivers
quality pharmaceutical services and leadership in support of
readiness and managed care missions of the Army.”
Watkins also volunteers his time to speak to students about
trends in pharmacy practice because he believes it is important to give back, especially to his alma mater, Florida A&M
University, where his daughter, Aja, is studying to be a nurse.
And when he’s not traveling, he’s on the sidelines watching
his son, Jasper Watkins IV, play high school football and run
track. “He says I’m his favorite fan.”
To further explore his interest in medicine, Watkins spent
his teenage years working as a pharmacy clerk. “I had been
around pharmacy for a long time. It didn’t frighten me. I
went into pharmacy with my eyes wide open, instead of
wide shut,” said the marathon runner who runs up to five
miles at 5 a.m. each day.
After spending his childhood living at military bases across
the United States, Watkins never thought about a military
career until he decided on nuclear pharmacy, which is the
last line of defense in detecting the root of a health problem
when traditional diagnostic procedures stop. The Army allowed
him to pursue his specialized focus and offered a residency,
which led him to become the first African American
pharmacist to be board certified and licensed by way of an
American Society of Health-System Pharmacists residency.
Safety with medicine use also has been a core focus for
Watkins. Throughout his 22 years in the military, he has
traveled around the world as part of a multidisciplinary
health care team, training health care providers on emerging
medical safety tools. “There is a continuous need for us to
maintain competency in the practice of pharmacy. There are
new drugs being released each day. We need to maintain
education competence and cultural awareness as to their
effects,” he said.
Pharmacists, he believes, must continue to be advocates and
collaborate with other organizations to address disparities in
health care, in particular the medication use process. “The
same drug can affect each person differently. For those with
dietary issues or certain religious beliefs, such as fasting
ONE GOAL: To rotect
x
07
SUNDAY
“We have to figure out ways to address patients by relating their medications
to their daily activities.”
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
1
1889: Frederick Douglass named U.S.
Minister to Haiti.
3
4
5
6
1688: The Quakers in Germantown,
Pennsylvania, make first formal protest
against slavery.
Independence Day
1900: Traditional birthdate of Louis
“Satchmo” Armstrong, jazz pioneer.
1892: Andrew J. Beard patents rotary engine.
1991: Nelson Mandela elected president of
the African National Congress.
1957: Althea Gibson wins women’s singles
title at Wimbledon, first black to win tennis’s
most prestigious award.
7
10
11
12
13
1875: Educator Mary McLeod Bethune,
founder of Bethune-Cookman College, born.
1905: W.E.B. DuBois and William Monroe
Trotter organize the Niagara Movement,
a forerunner of the NAACP.
1937: Actor, comedian Bill Cosby born.
1949: Frederick M. Jones patents cooling
system for food transportation vehicles.
1965: Thurgood Marshall becomes first black
appointed U.S. solicitor general.
17
18
19
20
1953: Jesse D. Locker appointed U.S.
ambassador to Liberia.
1899: L.C. Bailey issued patent for the folding bed.
1998: African American Civil War Soldiers
Memorial dedicated, Washington, D.C.
1925: Paris debut of Josephine Baker,
entertainer, activist and humanitarian.
1950: Black troops (24th Regiment) win first
U.S. victory in Korea.
24
25
26
27
1807: Shakespearean actor Ira Aldridge born
in New York City.
1916: Garrett Morgan, inventor of the gas
mask, rescues six people from gas-filled
tunnel in Cleveland, Ohio.
1948: President Harry S. Truman issues
Executive Order 9981, ending segregation
in armed forces.
1880: Alexander P. Ashbourne patents
process for refining coconut oil.
1948: Cleveland Indians sign pitcher
Leroy “Satchel” Paige.
14
1955: George Washington Carver Monument,
first national park honoring a black, is dedicated
in Joplin, Missouri.
21
1896: Mary Church Terrell elected first president of National Association of Colored Women.
28
1868: 14th Amendment, granting blacks
full citizenship rights, becomes part of
the Constitution.
8
1943: Faye Wattleton, first black director
of Planned Parenthood, born.
2000: Venus Williams wins women’s singles
championship at Wimbledon.
15
1867: Maggie Lena Walker, first woman and
first black to become president of a bank, born.
22
1939: Jane M. Bolin of New York City
appointed first black female judge.
29
1895: First National Conference of Colored
Women Convention held in Boston.
31
1874: Rev. Patrick Francis Healy inaugurated
president of Georgetown University,
Washington, D.C.
July 2005
AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY CALENDAR
www.aetna.com/diversity/aahcalendar/2005/index.html
SATURDAY
2
1872: Elijah McCoy patents first self-lubricating
locomotive engine. The quality of his inventions
helped coin the phrase “the real McCoy.”
1964: President Lyndon Johnson signs Civil
Rights Act into law.
9
1893: Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performs
first successful open-heart operation.
16
1822: Violette A. Johnson, first black woman
to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, born.
1862: Anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells
Barnett born.
23
1868: The 14th Amendment is ratified,
granting citizenship to blacks.
30
1822: James Varick becomes first bishop of
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
Miriam A. Mobley Smith,
Pharm.D.
Chicago, Illinois
For Dr. Miriam Mobley Smith, questions left unresolved in
childhood inspired her to seek out answers and take action.
It was difficult for her to see her brother suffer from severe
asthma and near respiratory collapse. It was even harder
for her to understand why her brother did not respond as
quickly as she did to the medication they each received to
treat pneumonia.
“I felt then that there was a calling for me to work with
medicine so that I could understand it,” she said. “I wanted
to be part of a profession that makes a difference in health
and well-being.”
Throughout her career, Mobley Smith has used her personal
life to inspire action. After graduating from the University
of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) College of Pharmacy, she set
her sights on making a positive impact in community health.
She also continued to polish her hobby as a singer, performing on many stages throughout her life, including the
famed Cobo Hall in Detroit.
Today, Mobley Smith is a clinical assistant professor and
coordinator of Academic Programs in the Department of
Pharmacy Practice at UIC. She focuses on experiential
education, community outreach and the improvement of
the medication use system.
Through involvement with the Healthcare Professionals
Education Roundtable, she is actively working to strengthen
multidisciplinary approaches to health care delivery. “This
is particularly important when dealing with illnesses such as
diabetes or cardiovascular disease. There’s the diagnosis,
treatments, lifestyle and dietary issues that need to be
addressed to improve the long-term patient outcome,”
she said.
Aging, Mobley Smith is part of team that educates seniors
about safety in medication use, necessary immunizations and
vaccines, and the importance of health care screenings. “We
need to take a closer look at elderly communities, which
have become threatened by what we call medication misadventures. Education can really make a difference,” she said.
Low literacy rates are of particular concern when it comes to
drug administration. Because of the levels of illiteracy all
over the world and the language barriers within countries,
Mobley Smith is working to sensitize people to the need for
universal symbols on medication labels. In her teachings, she
emphasizes how factors such as economic, social and cultural
life issues play into the success of health outcomes.
To further improve the integrity of the medication system,
Mobley Smith has been involved in pharmacy technician
education and training for 16 years. “The medication processing and distribution system is only as good as its weakest
link. That’s why it’s critical to maintain education, training
and certifications so that patient safety is maintained,”
she said.
“Every day I learn something,” Mobley Smith said. “Through
my community work and with my professional organizations,
my eyes are constantly open to things that can be done.”
Senior citizen health care also is a personal crusade since the
death of her great-aunt due to an excess dosage of ibuprofen
prescribed by two doctors. Funded by the Area Agency on
ONE GOAL: To mpact
x
08
“We need to take a closer look at elderly communities, which have
become threatened by what we call medication misadventures.”
SUNDAY
MONDAY
1
1879: Mary Eliza Mahoney graduates
from New England Hospital for Women
and Children, becoming the first black
professional nurse in America.
7
8
1907: Ralph Bunche, first African American
Nobel prize winner, born.
1989: Congressman Mickey Leland dies
in plane crash during a humanitarian
mission to Ethiopia.
1865: Polar explorer Matthew Henson born.
14
15
1989: First National Black Theater Festival
held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
1888: Granville T. Woods patents
electromechanical brake.
21
22
1904: Bandleader and composer
William “Count” Basie born.
1843: Henry Highland Garnett calls
for a general strike by slaves.
28
29
1963: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers
“I Have A Dream” speech during March
on Washington, D.C.
1920: Saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker born.
TUESDAY
2
1924: James Baldwin, author of Go Tell It
on the Mountain, The Fire Next Time and
Another Country, born.
9
1936: Jesse Owens wins fourth gold medal
at Summer Olympics in Berlin.
16
1922: Author Louis E. Lomax born.
23
1926: Carter Woodson, historian, author,
inaugurates Negro History Week.
30
1983: Lt. Col. Guion S. Bluford Jr. becomes
the first African American astronaut in space.
August 2005
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
3
4
1800: Gabriel Prosser leads slave revolt
in Richmond, Virginia.
1810: Abolitionist Robert Purvis born.
10
11
1989: Gen. Colin Powell is nominated
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first
African American to hold this post.
17
1872: Solomon Carter Fuller, acknowledged
as first black psychiatrist, born.
1921: Alex Haley, author of Roots, born.
18
1849: Lawyer-activist Archibald Henry Grimké,
who challenged segregationist policies of
President Woodrow Wilson, born.
24
1859: Harriet Wilson’s Our Nig is first
novel published by a black writer.
25
1950: Judge Edith Sampson named first black
delegate to United Nations.
1925: A. Phillip Randolph founds Brotherhood
of Sleeping Car Porters.
FRIDAY
5
1962: Nelson Mandela, South African
freedom fighter, imprisoned. He was
not released until 1990.
12
1977: Steven Biko, leader of Black Consciousness
Movement in South Africa, arrested.
19
1954: Dr. Ralph J. Bunche named
undersecretary of United Nations.
26
1946: Composer, singer and producer
Valerie Simpson Ashford born.
31
1836: Henry Blair patents cotton planter.
AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY CALENDAR
www.aetna.com/diversity/aahcalendar/2005/index.html
SATURDAY
6
1965: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs
Voting Rights Act, outlawing literacy test
for voting eligibility in the South.
13
1981: Reagan administration undertakes its
review of 30 federal regulations, including
rules on civil rights to prevent job discrimination.
20
1993: Dr. David Satcher named director
of the Centers for Disease Control.
27
1935: Mary McLeod Bethune founds
National Council of Negro Women.
1963: W.E.B. DuBois, scholar, civil rights
activist and founding father of the NAACP, dies.
Ene I. Ette,
Ph.D., F.C.P., F.C.C.P.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
If you think you can, then you will. This is the guiding principle that has elevated Dr. Ene I. Ette to become one of the
most valued opinion leaders in pharmaceutical research and
expert scientist at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Ette’s humble beginnings reach back to Nigeria, where as the
youngest of 11 children, he decided his mission in life would
be to alleviate human suffering. His mother, who was a nurse,
taught him how Western and herbal medicines could be
used to treat patients.
“I decided to pursue research so I could translate my findings
into orthodox medicine. I love research, and I knew that I
would be able to contribute by developing medicines,”
recalled Ette, whose first name, Ene, means “born to lead.”
While working at the FDA, he served as the major author
of a standards guide still used by the industry and the FDA
called Population Pharmacokinetics Guidance for Industry. It’s
a study of how medicines affect the body. He was appointed
an FDA consultant upon leaving the organization.
Ette currently is head of clinical pharmacology at Vertex
Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Mass. “Our role is to design
and execute clinical trials, collect data, analyze data, create
models, transform what we have learned into medical knowledge and develop guidelines for dosing drugs. After a drug is
introduced to market, we also monitor it to determine if
adverse effects, hitherto unknown, can be explained by dosage
and patient factors or the dosage may need modification,”
he said.
Now working in industry, Ette has a keen understanding
of the meaning behind faster and cheaper. “It is my goal to
keep coming up with new and innovative ideas for designing
and analyzing drug trials, which will enable us to develop
drugs faster and at a reduced cost,” he said. In the long run,
he believes this will make medications more affordable and
accessible for those who need them the most.
Along with his research, Ette’s work has been publicized in
medical/pharmaceutical journals – and he works diligently to
push his innovative ideas. “I never offer the same solution
twice. I always work to come up with something new,” he
said. “These are some of my self-imposed challenges: to
always look for ways to raise my performance beyond where
it is today and to impel myself to go for it all.”
With six children at home with his wife, Esther, Ette keeps a
positive and healthy outlook on his work life. “Each day I
think about how I can apply my God-given wisdom to excel
in what I do. This relates to job performance and mentoring
for my staff of eight,” he said.
ONE GOAL: To iscover
x
09
SUNDAY
“It is my goal to keep coming up with new and innovative ideas for designing and
analyzing drug trials, which will enable us to develop drugs faster and at a reduced cost.”
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
1
1993: Condoleeza Rice named provost at
Stanford University, becoming the youngest
person and first black to hold this position.
4
5
1957: Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus calls
out the National Guard to bar black students
from entering a Little Rock high school.
Labor Day
1960: Leopold Sedar Senghor, poet and
politician, elected president of Senegal.
11
12
1959: Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington wins
Spingarn Medal for his achievements in music.
1999: Serena Williams wins women‘s singles
tennis championship at U.S Open.
1913: Track and field star Jesse Owens born.
1992: Dr. Mae C. Jemison becomes first
African American woman to travel in space.
18
19
1895: Booker T. Washington delivers famous
Atlanta Exposition speech.
1893: Albert R. Robinson patents electric
railway trolley.
25
26
1974: Barbara W. Hancock becomes first
African American woman named a White
House fellow.
1962: Sonny Liston knocks out Floyd Patterson
to win heavyweight boxing championship.
6
1848: Frederick Douglass elected president
of National Black Political Convention in
Cleveland, Ohio.
13
1886: Literary critic Alain Lovke, first black
Rhodes scholar, born.
20
1830: First National Convention of Free Men
agrees to boycott slave-produced goods.
27
2000: Venus Williams wins an Olympic gold
medal in women‘s singles tennis.
7
8
1954: Washington, D.C., and Baltimore,
Maryland, public schools integrated.
14
15
1921: Constance Baker Motley, first black
woman appointed federal judge, born.
21
1963: Four black girls killed in Birmingham,
Alabama, church bombing.
22
1815: Gen. Andrew Jackson honors courage
of black troops who fought in Battle of
New Orleans.
1998: Florence Griffith Joyner, Olympic track
star, dies.
28
1862: Emancipation Proclamation announced.
1989: Gen. Colin Powell is confirmed as
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, first African
American to hold the post.
29
1991: National Civil Rights Museum opens
in Memphis, Tennessee.
2000: Venus and Serena Williams win Olympic
gold medals in women’s pairs tennis.
2003: Althea Gibson, first African American
tennis player to win Wimbledon, dies.
September 2005
1981: Roy Wilkins, executive director
of the NAACP, dies.
1910: National Urban League founded
in New York City.
FRIDAY
2
1958: Frederick M. Jones patents control
device for internal combustion engine.
9
1968: Arthur Ashe Jr. wins men‘s singles tennis
championship at U.S Open.
2000: Venus Williams wins women‘s singles
tennis championship at U.S Open.
16
1923: First Catholic seminary for black priests
dedicated in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
23
1863: Civil and women’s rights advocate
Mary Church Terrell born.
30
1962: James Meredith enrolls as first
black student at University of Mississippi.
AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY CALENDAR
www.aetna.com/diversity/aahcalendar/2005/index.html
SATURDAY
3
1979: Robert Maynard, first African American
to head a major daily newspaper, Oakland
Tribune in California.
10
1855: John Mercer Langston elected township
clerk of Brownhelm, Ohio, becoming first
black to hold elective office in the U.S.
17
1983: Vanessa Williams crowned Miss America.
24
1957: Federal troops enforce court-ordered
integrations as nine children integrate Central
High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Lenore T. Coleman, Pharm.D., C.D.E., F.A.S.H.P.
Bowie, Maryland
To heal a village, it takes foresight, determination and lofty
aspirations – traits that Dr. Lenore T. Coleman is proud to
have built her career upon. As a health activist and educator,
this clinical pharmacist combines her entrepreneurial drive
with her community compassion to teach people how to
prevent and heal sickness, one village at a time.
Owner of four health-based organizations and co-author of
a diabetes awareness book, Coleman realized early in her
career that she preferred a hands-on approach to pharmacy,
rather than the more structured hospital and retail methods.
“I wanted to have the opportunity to work with people on a
long-term basis and provide counsel on how to use drugs,”
she said. “This way, I could examine behavioral changes and
lifestyle, such as what people eat, their exercise patterns,
stress and high-risk behaviors. For people whom you see
regularly, you can address these issues.”
As a hospital pharmacist, community pharmacist, long-term
care pharmacist, VA pharmacist and lastly a clinical science
specialist at Bayer Pharmaceuticals, she has spent her entire
career focused on diabetes, cardiovascular disease and medication compliance. In 2001, Coleman decided to branch
out on her own.
Today she co-owns Total Diabetes Care and Medical
Supplies, an ADA-certified education center. She also is the
owner of Total Lifestyle Change, a nonprofit organization
that arranges nationwide outreach and education for the
medically underserved; Healing Our Village, a program that
uses broadcast media as an innovative health education
delivery system; and www.blackandbrownsugar.com, which
provides diabetes education. Her book, also titled Healing
Our Village and co-authored with Dr. James R. Gavin,
president of Morehouse School of Medicine, focuses on
strategies to effectively manage type 2 diabetes, with a focus
on prevention and wellness.
Coleman believes that garnering awareness on disease
prevention is the key to a healthier society. She said that
many people who are uninsured put their health on the back
burner and only seek care when they are motivated or sick.
To help educate the public about prevention and wellness,
Coleman actively goes out into the community and offers
total health screenings. “Every town I go to, I detect so
much disease,” she said. “We want to reach out to people
who may be okay today, but may be at risk because of
family history or other factors.”
Tragedy in Coleman’s personal life has reinforced the
importance of early disease detection and prevention. At age
38, her husband died of colon cancer when she was four
months’ pregnant. He was not even aware of his ailment at
the time of his death, and his passing left Coleman to raise
their two young children on her own.
Coleman draws from her personal experiences to keep motivated. She is currently planning to write books on prostate
cancer, HIV/AIDS and nutrition; and she hopes to expand
her Healing Our Village program on a national level. “It
takes all of us to heal the village,” she said. “Everyone needs
to wake up each day and think about how they can keep
themselves and their kids healthy.”
ONE GOAL: To ounsel
x
10
“I wanted to have the opportunity to work with people on
a long-term basis and provide counsel on how to use drugs.”
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
1
1996: Lt. Gen. Joe Ballard becomes first
black to head the Army Corps of Engineers.
2
3
4
5
2000: James Perkins Jr. sworn in as Selma,
Alabama’s, first African American mayor.
Rosh Hashanah Begins (sundown)
1956: Nat “King” Cole becomes first black
performer to host his own TV show.
1864: First black daily newspaper,
The New Orleans Tribune, founded.
1872: Booker T. Washington enters
Hampton Institute, Virginia.
9
10
11
12
1888: O.B. Clare patents trestle.
2001: Dr. Ruth Simmons, first African
American leader of an Ivy League institution,
elected 18th president of Brown University.
Columbus Day Observed
1899: Isaac R. Johnson patents bicycle frame.
1887: Granville T. Woods patents telephone
system and apparatus.
1887: Alexander Miles patents elevator.
Yom Kippur Begins (sundown)
1904: Physician and scholar
W. Montague Cobb born.
16
17
18
19
National Pharmacy Week
1984: Bishop Desmond Tutu wins Nobel
Peace Prize.
1995: The Million Man March for “A Day of
Atonement” takes place in Washington, D.C.
1888: Capital Savings Bank of Washington,
D.C., first bank for blacks, organized.
1948: Playwright Ntozake Shange, author
of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered
Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf, born.
1943: Paul Robeson opens in Othello at
the Shubert Theater in New York City.
23
24
25
26
1947: NAACP petitions United Nations
on racial conditions in the U.S.
United Nations Day
1980: Judge Patrick Higginbotham finds
Republic National guilty in discrimination case.
1992: Toronto Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston
becomes first African American to manage
a team to a World Series title.
1911: Mahalia Jackson, gospel singer, born.
30
31
Daylight Saving Time Ends
1979: Richard Arrington elected first African
American mayor of Birmingham, Alabama.
Halloween
1896: Actress, singer Ethel Waters born.
1899: William F. Burr patents switching
device for railways.
October 2005
6
1917: Political activist Fannie Lou Hamer born.
13
1579: Martin de Porres, first black saint
in the Roman Catholic church, born.
1876: Meharry Medical College founded,
established as the Meharry Medical
Department of Central Tennessee College.
20
1898: The first black-owned insurance
company, North Carolina Mutual Life
Insurance Co., founded.
27
1891: D.B. Downing, inventor, is awarded
a patent for the street letter box.
1954: Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes first
black general in U.S. Air Force.
7
1934: Playwright-poet Amiri Baraka
(LeRoi Jones) born.
1993: Toni Morrison becomes the first African
American to win the Nobel Prize in literature.
14
1964: At age 35, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. becomes youngest man to win
Nobel Peace Prize.
21
1917: Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie,
pioneer of bebop, born.
28
1981: Edward M. McIntyre elected first
African American mayor of Augusta, Georgia.
1998: President Bill Clinton declares HIV/AIDS
a health crisis in racial minority communities.
AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY CALENDAR
www.aetna.com/diversity/aahcalendar/2005/index.html
8
1941: Rev. Jesse Jackson, political activist
and civil rights leader, born.
15
1991: Clarence Thomas confirmed as an
associate justice of U.S. Supreme Court.
22
1953: Clarence S. Green becomes first
black certified in neurological surgery.
29
1949: Alonzo G. Moron becomes first black
president of Hampton Institute, Virginia.
DZ Washington,
Pharm.D., M.B.A.
Lake Mary, Florida
Dr. DZ Washington tackles life as if it’s an equation: When
he adds honesty to intelligence and factors in personal drive,
the product is a fulfilling career with infinite possibilities.
“Everything I do is a sum of interactions,” said the 29-yearold director of pharmacy. “I look at how I manage my
interactions and analyze how to make sure the patients get
what they need when they need it.”
Although Washington has been involved in the profession
for only five years, his personal ambitions are pushing
him quickly up the corporate ladder. After receiving his
Pharm.D. at Florida A&M University and his M.B.A. at
Rollins College in Orlando, he began working at Priority
Healthcare, a biologics pharmacy that distributes proteinbased therapies used to treat conditions such as hepatitis,
multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. The company also
recently embarked on a joint venture with Aetna to create
Aetna Specialty Pharmacy, a best-in-class specialty pharmacy
that will leverage buying power, deliver clinical program
management and focus on coordinating service with
physicians.
In slightly more than a year at Priority Healthcare,
Washington has been promoted three times – from staff
pharmacist to senior pharmacist to pharmacy manager to
director of pharmacy. Now he oversees 70 individuals. “I’m
proud of what I do for patients on an individual basis,”
Washington said. “Priority Healthcare has given me the
opportunity to grow and excel.”
Within the specialty pharmacy distribution company,
Washington focuses on reimbursements and new therapies.
He also built an insurance verification process from the
ground up. In the future, he would like to leverage his
expertise to develop cost models that will help serve insurance and pharmaceutical companies, as well as provide
cost-versus-benefit analysis and examine the impact on
patients who do not receive the treatments they need.
“Pharmacists provide the most value-add for patients,” he
said. “It is critical for us to impart knowledge and to educate
our patients. The goal is to equip every patient with adequate information. Patients have to feel as if they are a part
of their health care team.”
Although Washington was first drawn to the pharmaceutical
field because he wanted to be able to work with families, it
is his own family that keeps him driven today. “I grew up
without a father,” he said. “In life, I am most proud of the
fact that I am a good dad to my 9-year-old son, Adonte, a
good husband to my wife, Ayana, and a good provider.”
“Education and training only gets you in the game. Your
attitude and work ethic determines how far you will go.”
SUNDAY
1900: James Weldon Johnson and
J. Rosamond Johnson compose
“Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
13
1940: The U.S. Supreme Court rules
in Hansberry vs. Lee that blacks cannot
be barred from white neighborhoods.
20
1865: Howard Seminary (later Howard
University) founded in Washington, D.C.
1923: Garrett A. Morgan patents traffic
light signal.
27
1990: Charles Johnson awarded National
Book Award for fiction for Middle Passage.
“What you are taught in college is only good for about one
year. There are more drugs and more complex therapies. In
pharmacy you have to specialize,” Washington said.
“Education and training only gets you in the game. Your
attitude and work ethic determines how far you will go.”
ONE GOAL: To lourish
x
11
6
Habitually preparing for the future, Washington would like
to continue to excel in corporate management. He knows
that today, however, there is still much to learn.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
1
2
1945: John H. Johnson publishes
first issue of Ebony.
1954: Charles C. Diggs elected Michigan’s
first black congressman.
1983: President Ronald Reagan designates
Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday.
7
8
9
1989: L. Douglas Wilder elected governor
of Virginia, becoming nation’s first African
American governor since Reconstruction.
Election Day
1938: Crystal Bird Fauset elected state representative in Pennsylvania, becoming first black
woman to serve in a state legislature.
1731: Mathematician, urban planner
and inventor Benjamin Banneker born.
14
15
16
1915: Booker T. Washington, educator
and writer, dies.
1881: Payton Johnson patents swinging chair.
1981: Pam Johnson named publisher of
the Ithaca Journal in New York, becoming
first African American woman to head
a daily newspaper.
21
22
23
1893: Granville T. Woods patents electric
railway conduit.
1930: Elijah Muhammed establishes
the Nation of Islam.
1897: A.J. Beard patents the Jenny Coupler,
still used to connect railroad cars.
1897: John L. Love patents pencil sharpener.
28
29
30
1960: Richard Wright, novelist and author
of Native Son, dies.
1961: Ernie Davis becomes first black
to win the Heisman Trophy.
1908: Supreme Court Justice Thurgood
Marshall born.
1908: Adam Clayton Powell Jr., politician
and civil rights activist, born.
1897: J.A. Sweeting patents cigarette-rolling
device.
1912: Gordon Parks, writer, filmmaker
and photographer, dies.
November 2005
3
1981: Thirman L. Milner elected mayor of
Hartford, Connecticut, becoming first African
American mayor in New England.
10
1983: Wilson Goode elected Philadelphia’s
first African American mayor.
17
1980: Howard University airs WHHM, first
African American-operated public radio station.
24
Thanksgiving Day
1868: Pianist Scott Joplin, the “Father
of Ragtime,” born.
FRIDAY
4
1879: Thomas Elkins patents refrigeration
apparatus.
1992: Carol Moseley Braun becomes first African
American woman elected to the U.S. Senate.
11
Veterans’ Day
1989: Civil Rights Memorial dedicated
in Montgomery, Alabama.
18
1797: Sojourner Truth, abolitionist
and Civil War nurse, born.
25
1955: The Interstate Commerce Commission
bans segregation in interstate travel.
AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY CALENDAR
www.aetna.com/diversity/aahcalendar/2005/index.html
SATURDAY
5
1968: Shirley Chisholm of Brooklyn, New
York, becomes first black woman elected
to Congress.
12
1941: Mary Cardwell Dawson and Madame
Lillian Evanti establish the National Negro
Opera Company.
19
1953: Roy Campanella named Most
Valuable Player in National Baseball
League for the second time.
26
1883: Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and Civil
War nurse, dies.
1970: Charles Gordone becomes first African
American playwright to receive the Pulitzer
Prize (for No Place to Be Somebody).
She listened to his advice, earning a doctorate degree and
various academic achievements at Mercer University. She
soon became one of the four clinical pharmacists asked to
help build the Doctor of Pharmacy program at Florida A&M.
Within one year with the program she was named director.
Today, Johnson-Fannin is the only female African American
to have founded a school of pharmacy and the only female
to have started two schools of pharmacy, at University of
Incarnate Word and Hampton University. For the past 27
years, she has devoted herself to making change in the industry
and empowering her students to take control of their own
lives through academic and professional excellence.
“There could not possibly be one thing that I like best about
the pharmaceutical field,” she said, “but one of the most
rewarding experiences is when I can see that my students
finally ‘get it’ and understand the material on a new level. I
know that eventually they will make a real change in pharmacy.”
Johnson-Fannin also is actively involved in African American
organizations and is devoted to sharing medical knowledge,
even in her spare time. She spent an entire year in Saudi Arabia
working for the government and teaching pharmacology in a
medical school for women.
She also enjoys traveling and even made a trek cross-country
in a mobile home with her family – son, Lawrence Marshall,
an 11th-grade student; daughter, Ehriel, a senior nursing
student at Hampton University; and husband, Larry Fannin,
the associate dean at Hampton University.
Arcelia M. Johnson-Fannin,
Pharm.D., R.Ph.
San Antonio, Texas
The long and often arduous road that is Dr. Arcelia M.
Johnson-Fannin’s academic career is composed of bumps,
detours and sharp curves, as well as numerous firsts and high
achievements. Coming from a family of teachers, it took her
many years to realize that teaching was her destiny, although
she opposed it all the way. She discovered that in academia
she could build something. “I found it is truly where I
belong,” she said.
Johnson-Fannin has always aimed high and excelled higher.
An exceptionally bright child, she completed both second
and third grade at the same time, and eventually went on to
become high school valedictorian and first in her doctoral
class at Mercer University in Atlanta.
Never one to turn away from a challenge, Johnson-Fannin
believes she still has a lot to contribute. “Before I go to work
each day, I think to myself, ‘I know there will be challenges
today. Am I up to them?’” she said. “And then I think, ‘Of
course I am! I’m lucky I have these challenges!’”
While working at New York’s Montefiore Hospital, the hospital’s then Director of Pharmacy Kurt Kleinman recognized
her spark and took an interest in her, sending her to important meetings and assigning her to the most difficult shifts in
order for her to grow into a strong leader. “I had huge ambitions – I wanted his job,” Johnson-Fannin said. “He told me
that the only way I could have his job someday was to earn
a doctorate.”
ONE GOAL: To uild
x
12
“One of the most rewarding experiences is when I can see that my
students finally ‘get it’ and understand the material on a new level.”
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
1
1955: Rosa Parks arrested for refusing
to give her seat to a white man, sparking
the Montgomery bus boycott.
4
5
6
7
1906: Alpha Phi Alpha, first black Greek letter
fraternity, founded at Cornell University.
1955: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. organizes
Birmingham bus boycott, marking beginning
of the Civil Rights movement.
1932: Richard B. Spikes patents
automatic gearshift.
1941: Navy steward Dorie Miller shoots
down four Japanese planes during attack
on Pearl Harbor.
8
11
12
13
14
1926: Blues singer Willie Mae “Big Mama”
Thornton born.
1995: Willie Brown defeats incumbent Frank
Jordan to become the first African American
mayor of San Francisco.
1944: First black servicewomen sworn
in to the WAVES.
1829: John Mercer Langston, congressman
and founder of Howard University Law
Department, born.
15
18
19
20
21
1865: Congress passes 13th Amendment,
abolishing slavery.
1875: Educator Carter G. Woodson,
“Father of Black History,” born.
1860: South Carolina secedes from the Union,
initiating the Civil War.
1911: Baseball legend Josh Gibson born.
25
26
27
28
Christmas
Hanukkah Begins (sundown)
1760: Jupiter Hammon becomes first published
black poet with “An Evening Thought.”
1907: Cab Calloway, bandleader and first jazz
singer to sell 1 million records, born.
Kwanzaa Begins
1894: Jean Toomer, author of Cane, born.
1862: African Methodist Episcopal Zion
Church founded in New Bern, North Carolina.
1905: Earl “Fatha” Hines, “Father
of Modern Jazz Piano,” born.
December 2005
1925: Entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. born.
1883: William A. Hinton, first black
on Harvard Medical School faculty, born.
1994: Ruth J. Simmons named president
of Smith College.
22
1883: Arthur Wergs Mitchell, first black
Democrat to be elected to Congress, born.
29
1924: Author, sportswriter A.S. “Doc”
Young born.
FRIDAY
2
1884: Granville T. Woods patents
telephone transmitter.
9
1872: P.B.S. Pinchback of Louisiana
becomes first black governor.
16
1976: Andrew Young nominated by
President Jimmy Carter to be U.S.
ambassador to United Nations.
23
1867: Sarah “Madam C.J.” Walker, businesswoman and first black female millionaire, born.
30
1842: Congressman Josiah Walls born.
1892: Dr. Miles V. Lynk publishes first black
medical journal for physicians, the Medical
and Surgical Observer.
AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY CALENDAR
www.aetna.com/diversity/aahcalendar/2005/index.html
SATURDAY
3
1847: Frederick Douglass publishes
first issue of North Star.
10
1950: Dr. Ralph J. Bunche becomes first
black awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
17
1802: Teacher and minister
Henry Adams born.
24
1832: Charter granted to Georgia Infirmary,
the first black hospital.
31
1930: Odetta, blues and folk singer, born.
x BIOGRAPHIES
Teri’ Yvette Burnell, Pharm.D.
Teri’ Yvette Burnell, Pharm.D., is the director of Clinical
Pharmacy Programs for Aetna Pharmacy Management.
Her area of responsibility is the evaluation, development
and implementation of pharmacy programs that are clinically based, results oriented, and provide value to internal
and external constituents.
Dr. Burnell graduated from the University of Florida with
a B.S. in pharmacy and a Pharm.D. She also attended
Talladega College and received a B.A. in biology prior to her
pharmacy education. Dr. Burnell is a licensed registered
pharmacist and consultant pharmacist in the state of Florida,
and a member of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy
and the Florida Pharmacy Association.
Dr. Burnell, a licensed pharmacist since 1987, has over
15 years of health care management experience. Previous
to her employment at Aetna, Dr. Burnell was a National
Pharmacy Program and Business Development regional
director for Prudential HealthCare, where she was responsible for program development and implementation until
the purchase of Prudential HealthCare by Aetna. Prior to
this role she served as pharmacy director for the Orlando,
Florida, and Tampa, Florida, markets. Her background
includes serving as the assistant pharmacy director and
clinical pharmacy coordinator for Integrated Pharmacy
Solutions, Inc., a group-model pharmacy that exclusively
serviced Prudential HealthCare members. Additionally,
Dr. Burnell has experience in hospital pharmacy.
Ira Charles Robinson, Ph.D., R.Ph.
Since retiring from Merck-Medco in 1998, Dr. Ira Charles
Robinson has practiced as a part-time pharmacist at
Walgreen’s and has been a diabetes educator, author and
consultant in disease-state self-management.
Dr. Robinson is a pharmacy graduate of Florida A&M
University (FAMU). He received his Ph.D. in pharmacy at
the University of Florida (UF) in 1966, and he became the
first African American to be awarded the terminal degree in
any discipline at the university. He also was the first African
American admitted to the UF College of Pharmacy for either
undergraduate or graduate studies.
witness and has testified before more than a dozen congressional committees in Washington, D.C., and for the state of
Florida on educational and health issues of importance to
African Americans.
Dr. Lewis is the immediate past president of the Minority
Health Professions Foundation in Atlanta, Georgia, and
chairman of the Board of Directors of the Florida Education
Fund in Tampa, Florida. Currently, he is a member of the
Board of Directors of the Capital City Bank Group, Leon
County Educational Facility Authority and the American
Cancer Society.
Marisa A. Lewis, Pharm.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Marisa A. Lewis is a tenured associate professor in the
Division of Health Care Management in the School of
Allied Health Sciences at Florida A&M University (FAMU).
Currently, Dr. Lewis also is the executive director of the
Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA), a
position she has held since 1989.
Dr. Lewis received a B.S. degree in pharmacy from Texas
Southern University, Houston, Texas, and a Pharm.D.
degree from FAMU. She went on to receive a master’s degree
in public health, with a concentration in health systems
management, from Tulane University School of Public
Health & Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana.
For 14 months, Dr. Lewis served as interim director for the
Division of Health Care Management. From January to June
2002, she also served as interim first lady of the university.
Her past professional experience includes a seven-year faculty
tenure at Xavier University of Louisiana, a three-year career
as a medical information specialist with Owen Healthcare,
Inc., and several years in hospital and retail settings.
Dr. Lewis previously served as the primary spokesperson
for the 2000 Medicine Cabinet Safety Campaign and as
one of the spokespersons for the Partnership for Self-Care
Campaign. In addition, she has held an appointment on
the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy Licensure
Examination Review (NABPLEX) Committee, and has been
a consultant with Merck Managed Care and the American
Council on Pharmaceutical Education. Dr. Lewis also has
served on the U.S. Pharmacists Editorial Advisory Board.
is a recipient of the Dena L. Barker award – SDSHP’s
highest honor – for Pharmacist of the Year (2000).
Sybil M. Richard, R.Ph., M.H.A., Esq.
Sybil M. Richard is the chief of the Bureau of Medicaid
Pharmacy Services of the state of Florida's Agency for
Health Care Administration. Her responsibilities include
the planning, directing, organizing, and coordinating of
policy and procedures related to the Medicaid prescribed
drug program; research and analysis of proposed state and
federal legislation; Medicaid prescribed drug budget; and
cost-containment initiatives.
Prior to her current position, Ms. Richard was the director
of Policy and Programs for the National Association of
Chain Drug Stores, where she was responsible for policy
and regulatory issues relating to federal and state health
care programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid.
In 2000, Ms. Richard was named the 13th David A.
Winston Health Policy Fellow. During her fellowship, she
worked at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
in the Centers for Medicaid and State Operations, where she
contributed to the development of policies and implementation of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and
Treatment Program.
Ms. Richard was recently appointed to the State
Pharmaceutical Assistance Transition Commission by
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary
Tommy Thompson. The commission is responsible for
developing legislative and administrative proposals to
ease the transition of low-income Medicare beneficiaries
from state-sponsored programs to the new Medicare drug
benefit in 2006.
She is a member of the American Pharmacists Association
and the American Bar Association. She is registered with
the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy and was admitted to the
Maryland Bar. Ms. Richard graduated with a B.S. degree in
pharmacy from Xavier University of Louisiana, and received
her master’s in health administration and juris doctorate
from Indiana University.
Dr. Robinson became the youngest pharmacy dean in the
country in 1969 at the age of 28. While at FAMU, he
founded the National Pharmaceutical Foundation in 1972,
serving as its executive director or president for 17 years. He
also is currently a member of Sigma Xi Honorary Scientific
Society, Rho Chi National Pharmacy Honor Society and
the American Pharmacists Association.
Dr. Robinson is married and the father of four health care
professionals, two of whom are physicians and three of
whom are registered pharmacists. His wife, Clarice James,
is a former home economics teacher. They have resided in
the Tampa Bay, Florida, area for 17 years.
Henry Lewis III, Pharm.D.
Dr. Henry Lewis III is a professor and director in the
College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at his
alma mater, Florida A&M University (FAMU). During his
tenure as dean, Dr. Lewis led the college to national recognition. It is now the fourth largest of the nation’s 89 colleges
of pharmacy.
Dr. Lewis received a B.S. in pharmacy from FAMU and
a Pharm.D. degree from Mercer University in Atlanta,
Georgia. He then completed a post-doctoral education at
Harvard University’s Institute of Educational Management.
At FAMU, Dr. Lewis opened and staffed branch campuses
in Jacksonville, Miami and Tampa; he developed Ph.D.
programs in pharmaceutics and medicinal chemistry, and a
new master’s program in pharmacoeconomics; and he pioneered the Executive Pharm.D. (ExDoc) program, FAMU’s
first nontraditional distance-learning degree program for
the practicing pharmacist. From January to July 2002,
Dr. Lewis served as interim president of FAMU.
Not only has Dr. Lewis been FAMU’s Teacher of the Year,
but he also is recognized nationally for his contributions to
higher education and health care. To help address health
disparities in Florida, Dr. Lewis opened the FAMU Health
Department Pharmacy. In September 2004, he opened a
pharmacy for underserved patients in the Johnnie Ruth
Clark Health Center in St. Petersburg, Florida.
In 1986, Dr. Lewis became the first African American
elected to the Board of County Commissioners in
Tallahassee, Florida. He also is acknowledged as an expert
Her awards include the Chauncey I. Cooper Distinguished
Service Award, the Association of University Programs in
Health Administration’s Diversity Leadership Recognition
Award, FAMU Service Award, FAMU Teaching Incentive
Program Award and FAMU Teacher of the Year Award.
She also is the recipient of two NPhA Presidential
Commendation Awards.
James Colbert, Pharm.D.
A practicing pharmacist for more than 20 years and a
decorated U.S. Army veteran, Dr. James Colbert serves as
the clinical manager and education coordinator for the
Department of Pharmacy at the UCSD Medical Center. He
also is an assistant professor of medicine in the Department
of Pediatrics in the UCSD School of Medicine and an assistant clinical professor of pharmacy at both the University of
California at San Francisco (Department of Clinical
Pharmacy) and at UCSD (Department of Pharmacology).
Dr. Colbert has been a researcher and educator on the pharmacological management of sickle cell disease, pediatric
asthma, cystic fibrosis and military pharmacy. He is a contributor to the UCSD Sickle Cell Parent Support Group and
a co-founder of the UCSD Pediatric Pain Team. For his
work with the San Diego chapter of the Sickle Cell Disease
Association of America, the San Diego Combined Health
Agencies (CHAD) recognized Dr. Colbert as a “Health
Hero” in 2002.
A former U.S. Army officer, Dr. Colbert was decorated for
his service during the Persian Gulf War (1990-1991) and the
Bosnia peacekeeping campaign (1996). He has had extensive
overseas military pharmacy experience, including service as
chief of the Army’s pharmacy operations in Stuttgart and
Hanau, Germany, and as assistant chief in Heidelberg,
Germany.
Dr. Colbert received his B.A. degree in biological sciences
from the University of California at Berkeley in 1977 and
his doctor of pharmacy degree in 1981 from UCSF’s School
of Pharmacy.
Dr. Colbert has received Outstanding Teacher awards from
the Division of Family Practice (1992) and the Department
of Pediatrics (2001) at the UCSD School of Medicine. He
was selected as a Preceptor of the Year for the UCSD
Department of Pharmacy General Practice Residency
Program (1998). He received the prestigious NovationPediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group National Scholar award
(1998) for exemplary practice as a pediatric pharmacist.
Dr. Colbert holds fellowships in both the American Society
of Health-System Pharmacists and the California Society of
Health-System Pharmacists. He is a past president of the San
Diego Society of Health-System Pharmacists (SDSHP). He
Dr. Augustus received both a B.S. in pharmacy and a
Pharm.D. from Xavier University of Louisiana in New
Orleans, where she received the Merck Award in 1972 and
the Sandoz Award in 1993. She also has studied managerial
accounting at Western Michigan University.
Prior to joining LSU, Dr. Augustus worked as a product and
research coordination specialist at The Upjohn Company in
Kalamazoo, Michigan. She also has worked as a registered
pharmacist at Conrad’s Drugstore in Baton Rouge; an assistant to the pharmacy director at Villa Feliciana Geriatric
Hospital in Jackson, Louisiana; a pharmacist-in-charge at the
Jetson Correctional Center for Youth in Baton Rouge; and a
relief pharmacist at Southern University’s Student Health
Center in Baton Rouge.
She is an active member of an array of professional and
service organizations, and has been a volunteer tutor
since 1967.
Dr. Augustus lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and spends
much of her free time visiting her grandchildren in Baton
Rouge and Atlanta, Georgia. She is an active member of
her church; and she also enjoys reading, traveling and
family gatherings.
Charles A. Champion, D.Ph.
Dr. Charles A. Champion is the owner of Champion
Pharmacy and Herb Store on Elvis Presley Boulevard in
Memphis, Tennessee. He refers to himself as an herbal pharmacist and is best known for his ability to fuse modern
pharmacy with his belief in the healing powers of herbs.
A graduate of Xavier University College of Pharmacy in
New Orleans, Louisiana, Dr. Champion spent two years in
Germany as a pharmacist for the United States Army before
returning to work in the pharmacy at John Gaston Hospital,
where he spent 12 years. He then worked as a pharmacist at
a chain drugstore for an additional 12 years before opening
his own pharmacy in January 1981.
Today, Dr. Champion is regarded as an expert in herbal
products. Along with running his pharmacy, he also manages
a successful mail-order herbal product business.
Dr. Robinson has worked as an international health
consultant with a variety of federal agencies, the World
Bank and private firms in Africa, the Caribbean and the
Middle East.
A former dean and professor of pharmacy at both FAMU
and Howard University colleges of pharmacy, Dr. Robinson
also was the first black Ph.D. senior research scientist,
research project leader and technical assistant to the vice
president for research at Pfizer, Inc. He is the author of a
patent for a novel pharmaceutical technology used for
producing sustained-release tablets and capsules.
Dr. Augustus has worked in university pharmacy services
since 1978. She is co-authoring the chapter “Pharmacology
and Pharmacy” in Clinical Textbook for Veterinary Technicians
that is currently available in its fourth and fifth editions.
Sylester Flowers, R.Ph.
Sylester Flowers is the founder and chief executive officer of
the Ramsell Corporation, through which he manages several
pharmaceutical- and health-based businesses. Mr. Flowers
currently devotes the majority of his time to operating a
state-of-the-art pharmacy in a low-income community in
California.
A prominent figure in the pharmaceutical industry for more
than 46 years, Mr. Flowers earned his B.S. in pharmacy from
Howard University in Washington, D.C. He then spent a
year as a neuro-pharmacology research assistant at the VA
Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before serving two
years in the Army.
On January 8, 1964, Mr. Flowers opened his first community pharmacy in Oakland, California; and in August 1967,
he founded the Ramsell Corporation. At one point he
owned six community pharmacies, but today his business
ventures include the Apothecary Eastman Town Center, a
state-of-the-art community pharmacy; Alta Tierra, a community investment property; the Flowers Heritage Foundation,
an organization that supports Howard University and other
schools of pharmacy; and the Public Health Services Bureau,
a pharmacy benefits management company established for
the medically indigent with HIV/AIDS in Washington state
and California.
Mr. Flowers also worked as an adjunct professor of pharmacy
from 1975-1986 at the University of Pacific in Stockton,
California, and as an assistant clinical professor of pharmacy
at the University of California School of Pharmacy in
San Francisco from 1972-1986.
Named “Local Hero of the Year 2004” by KQED – PBS
California, Mr. Flowers also was the recipient of the
California Pharmacists Association Academy of Pharmacy
Management’s Appreciation of Contribution to Pharmacy
Management Award from 1980-1985.
Mr. Flowers, who will celebrate his 70th birthday in
June 2005, lives in San Francisco, California, with his
wife, Helen. He has three adult children and two children
in high school.
Marvene Augustus, Pharm.D., R.Ph.
Dr. Marvene Augustus is currently the pharmacy manager
at Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Veterinary
Medicine. At LSU, Dr. Augustus serves as secretary of the
Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, and is a member
of the Black Faculty and Staff Caucus. She also works as a
staff pharmacist for Baton Rouge General Health Systems
and Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Dr. Champion has received many prestigious awards,
including the Bowl of Hygeia Award for outstanding community service by a pharmacist and the 1987 Pharmacist of
the Year Award, presented by the National Pharmaceutical
Association. He also has received the Dr. Henry L. Starks
Distinguished Service Award; the Outstanding Achievement
in Health Profession Award, presented by Kappa Alpha Psi
Fraternity; and the Outstanding Service Award, presented by
the National Pharmaceutical Association.
More than 50 articles have been published by or about
Dr. Champion, and American Druggist magazine named him
one of the 50 most influential pharmacists in the country.
He also publishes the African American Doctors Directory and
the African American Dentists Directory, both of which he
distributes at his store.
Married to Carolyn Bailey Champion, Dr. Champion is
father to three daughters – two pharmacists and a certified
pharmacist technician.
Lieutenant Colonel Jasper W. Watkins III, M.S.A.,
R.Ph., N.P., B.C.N.P.
LTC Jasper W. Watkins III, a native of Jacksonville, Florida,
is deputy Army pharmacy program manager for patient
safety, Directorate of Health Policy and Services, Office
of the Surgeon General. He is involved in a broad array
of safety initiatives related to medication use, quality
improvement and practice standards development within
the Department of Defense.
His 22 years as an Army pharmacist encompass a unique
blend of operational and specialty pharmacy, medical
logistics and human resource skills. He received his B.S.
in pharmacy from Florida A&M University’s School of
Pharmacy and an M.S.A. in health services administration
from Central Michigan University.
LTC Watkins is the first African American in Florida and in
the armed forces to have completed an American Society of
Health-System Pharmacists Certified Nuclear Pharmacy
Residency Program. He is credited with the re-establishment
of the Nuclear Pharmacy Residency Program at Walter Reed
Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.; and the
Development, Testing and Implementation of Cold-Chain
Management principles for shipping vaccines and biologicals
from manufacturers directly to the requesting organization
and military units. His technique has been adopted and
recorded in the United States Pharmacopoeia.
AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY CALENDAR
www.aetna.com/diversity/aahcalendar/2005/index.html
LTC Watkins has received many military decorations,
honors and awards, including the Order of Military Merit.
He is a member of several boards and scientific associations,
including the American Society of Health-System
Pharmacists, Association of Black Health System Pharmacists
and National Pharmaceutical Association, among others.
Miriam A. Mobley Smith, Pharm.D.
Dr. Miriam A. Mobley Smith is a clinical assistant professor
and coordinator of academic programs in the department of
pharmacy practice, the University of Illinois at Chicago
(UIC) College of Pharmacy. Dr. Mobley Smith serves on
UIC’s curriculum assessment committee and as a pharmacotherapist in ambulatory care. She is a faculty member in
the allied health, nursing and human services department
at South Suburban College in South Holland, Illinois.
Dr. Mobley Smith worked for more than 19 years in community, hospital and managed care settings, where she was
responsible for projects such as continuity of asthma care,
discharge medication programs, community pharmacy practice model development, indigent patient medication access,
senior medication education programs and pharmacy technician continuing education. She has 10 years’ experience as a
regional poison control network specialist.
Dr. Mobley Smith received her B.S. in pharmacy from the
University of Michigan and her Pharm.D. from the
University of Illinois at Chicago. She completed a pharmacy
practice residency at Sinai Hospital of Detroit, where she
was the first African American pharmacy resident.
She is a co-founder of the Association of Black Hospital
Pharmacists, as well as an item writer and mentor for the
Pharmacy Technician Certification Examination and a
faculty advisor for the Student National Pharmaceutical
Association.
In July 2004, Dr. Mobley Smith received the National
Pharmaceutical Association’s James N. Tyson Award. She
has been recognized as a Van Dorn Scholar, by Women in
Pharmacy Leadership, by Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society,
and is in Who’s Who of Executives and Professionals.
Dr. Mobley Smith lives in South Holland, Illinois, and
is married to Eric Smith, a nationally known genealogist.
The couple have three sons.
Ene I. Ette, Ph.D., F.C.P., F.C.C.P.
Dr. Ene I. Ette has broad experience in academia, regulatory
agency and the pharmaceutical industry. He has interest
in pharmacometrics, and he was an expert scientist in
the Pharmacometrics Staff Unit, Office of Clinical
Pharmacology and Biopharmaceutics, Center for Drug
Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA). He has a Ph.D. in clinical pharma-
AETNA 2005 AFRICAN AMERICAN
HISTORY CALENDAR
For its 24th anniversary edition, Aetna’s 2005 African
American History Calendar celebrates the history and
heritage of African American pharmacists. The calendar
pays tribute to the struggles, successes and educational
achievements of African American pharmacists, and
proudly salutes some of the most dynamic African
American pharmacy professionals in the country today.
Since 1982, Aetna has recognized the outstanding
contributions of African Americans with this critically
acclaimed publication. The calendar, which features both
monthly profiles and significant historic events, has
become an invaluable reference and education tool in
schools, libraries and homes across the country.
To date, the calendar has profiled more than 275 individuals – pioneers in fields such as business, government,
athletics, science, education, medicine and the arts. From
the award-winning playwright Lorraine Hansberry and
Olympic gold medal winner Florence Griffith Joyner, to
heart surgeon Daniel Hale Williams and CEO philanthropist Comer J. Cottrell Jr., all of the individuals
featured have demonstrated strength, perseverance and
grace in succeeding in their chosen fields.
The history of African Americans is rich with courageous
and inspiring stories that touch every facet of American
history and culture. With its 2005 calendar, Aetna is
proud to salute the achievements of African American
pharmacy professionals and feature yet another chapter
in the remarkable history of African Americans.
INFORMATION ABOUT PHARMACY
EDUCATION / SCHOOLS OF PHARMACY
Currently, there are 89 pharmacy schools located in the
United States. For a complete list of the schools and their
Web site addresses, visit the “Related Links” page of the
2005 African American History Calendar located at
www.aetna.com/diversity/aahcalendar/2005/index.html.
cology, and he is author of several original articles in peerreviewed journals, book chapters, numerous conference
presentations and proceedings. In addition, he is on the
editorial board of many clinical pharmacology/pharmacy
journals, as well as referee for many biomedical journals.
He has been an invited speaker at many international
clinical pharmacology/pharmacy, pharmaceutical science
and statistical meetings.
Dr. Ette is a fellow of the American Colleges of Clinical
Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy, and the 1999 winner
of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy’s prestigious
Russell Miller Award for outstanding contributions to
clinical pharmacy literature. In 1996 he was the recipient
of the Excellence in Review Science Award in CDER
(FDA). He was a consultant to the FDA from 1998 to
2001. At the FDA, he was the chairman of the Population
PK Working Group and was the major author of Population
Pharmacokinetics Guidance for Industry.
He is an adjunct professor at the University of Rhode Island
College of Pharmacy. Dr. Ette currently is the senior
director and head of Clinical Pharmacology at Vertex
Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he leads
efforts in rational drug development through clinical trial
modeling and simulation, development of novel study
designs, development and implementation of advanced
PK/PD methods, and has filed several patents.
Lenore T. Coleman, Pharm.D., C.D.E., F.A.S.H.P.
Dr. Lenore T. Coleman is currently an associate professor at
Xavier College of Pharmacy, a research fellow at the Center
of Excellence at Howard University and an adjunct assistant
professor of Pharmacy Practice at the University of Southern
California (USC) School of Pharmacy.
Dr. Coleman has been a practicing pharmacist for 24 years.
She has worked as a clinical pharmacist in the acute care,
ambulatory care, long-term care and community pharmacy
setting. Within each of these practice settings, Dr. Coleman
has focused on diabetes care and management.
She received her Pharm.D. from the University of California,
San Francisco, and completed an ASHP-approved residency
in ambulatory care at USC School of Pharmacy.
A certified diabetic educator of nine years, Dr. Coleman
provides education and drug therapy management to ethnic
populations at Total Diabetes Care Center and Medical
Supplies in the Greater Los Angeles area. She also provides
online information on diabetes at www. blackandbrownsugar.com.
FAITH and Operation DETECT: A Cardiovascular RiskReduction Program for Faith-Based and Community-Based
Organizations.
Dr. Coleman is president of Healing Our Village (HOV),
LLC. HOV provides formalized diabetes education classes
via Internet and cable broadcasts to physicians’ offices
nationwide. Most recently, she produced a television show
called “Healing the Village.” Dr. Coleman also is the author
of Healing Our Village: A Self-Care Guide to Diabetes Control.
DZ Washington, Pharm.D., M.B.A.
Dr. DZ Washington currently is the director of pharmacy
at Priority Healthcare in Orlando, Florida. Within the
specialty pharmacy distribution company, Dr. Washington
focuses on reimbursements and new therapies, overseeing
70 individuals.
He received his Pharm.D. at Florida A&M University in
1999, which he attended on a full academic scholarship, and
his M.B.A. at Rollins College in Orlando. After beginning
his pharmacy career at Walgreen’s Pharmacy, he went on to
join Priority Healthcare as a staff pharmacist. In slightly
more than a year, Dr. Washington has been promoted three
times and has built an insurance verification process from
the ground up.
Born in Port Charlotte, Florida, Dr. Washington had a very
fulfilling and happy childhood, living well below the poverty
level. As a young adult, he was one of two recipients of the
Florida Undergraduate Scholars Award (now the Bright
Futures Scholarship).
At 11 years old, Dr. Washington began a career in amateur
boxing, which he continued successfully for six years. He
won a variety of National P.A.L. championships, as well as
the Sunshine State Games, Junior Olympics and State
Golden Gloves championships.
While studying for his pharmacy licensure in 1999,
Dr. Washington became close friends with Ayana Benton,
an old friend from high school. On his days off he would
babysit her 4-year-old son, Adonte. The two longtime
friends were married in August of 2002.
Dr. Washington currently is an active member of the
Southside Church of Christ in Orlando; and he spends
his free time with his family, church family and friends.
Dr. Washington considers himself a blessed individual,
and he loves to share his blessings with others.
Arcelia M. Johnson-Fannin, Pharm.D., R.Ph.
Dr. Arcelia M. Johnson-Fannin is the newly appointed
founding dean of the School of Pharmacy at University of
the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. With this
appointment, Dr. Johnson-Fannin became the first woman
and only black female to be founding dean at two new
pharmacy schools. In 1997, Dr. Johnson-Fannin was selected
to head the development of the pharmacy program at
Hampton University in Virginia.
Dr. Johnson-Fannin began her career at Florida A&M
University (FAMU) in the School of Pharmacy, where she
helped develop the clinical pharmacy program and create
the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum. She became the first
director of the Doctor of Pharmacy Degree Program at
FAMU.
Today, Dr. Johnson-Fannin and her colleagues have received
significant funding for health disparities’ research. Over the
past seven years, she has received grants from The Lilly
Foundation, The Kellogg Foundation, National Institutes
of Health and the Department of Education totaling more
than $6,500,000.
Dr. Johnson-Fannin has carried her talent for teaching and
program development into a variety of venues. She taught
in a developing medical school for women in Saudi Arabia,
and she helped develop educational programs for foreign
physicians at a large state hospital in Florida. She also was a
member of the NAPLEX committee that took the pharmacy
licensing exam from paper to electronic format.
Dr. Johnson-Fannin received a B.S. in chemistry from
Dillard University, a B.S. degree in pharmacy from Columbia
University, and a Pharm.D. from Mercer University.
In 1999, Dr. Johnson-Fannin was designated one of the
50 most influential pharmacists in America. In addition
to numerous other awards and recognitions, Dr. JohnsonFannin is involved with the community through Alpha
Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and Jack and Jill, Inc.; and she
has served on many professional and community boards.
Dr. Johnson-Fannin is married to Dr. Larry Fannin,
the associate dean of Pharmacy at Hampton University.
The couple have two children, Ehriel and Marshall.
Dr. Coleman is currently the president and CEO of Total
Lifestyle Change, Inc. (TLC), a nonprofit service organization dedicated to eliminating health care disparities in ethnic
populations. As part of TLC, Dr. Coleman developed Project
LOCATIONS FOR PHOTOGRAPHY
Champion Pharmacy and Herb Store
Memphis, Tennessee
Florida A&M University
Tallahassee, Florida
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Office of the Surgeon General
Falls Church, Virginia
Old State Capitol Building
Tallahassee, Florida
Priority Healthcare
Lake Mary, Florida
Ramsell Corporation
Pleasanton, California
University of California at San Diego Medical Center
San Diego, California
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
University of Incarnate Word
San Antonio, Texas
SPECIAL THANKS
Terrence V. Burroughs, M.B.A., R.Ph.
President, National Pharmaceutical Association, and
President, The Burroughs Management Group, Inc.
Cary, North Carolina
John Elbert Clark, R.Ph.
President
Association of Black Health System Pharmacists
Miami, Florida
Mike Conlan
National Community Pharmacists Association
Alexandria, Virginia
Joselyn Edwards
American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
Bethesda, Maryland
Gregory J. Higby
American Institute of the History of Pharmacy
Madison, Wisconsin
Starr Miller, R.Ph., F.S.V.H.P., D./C.V.P.
School of Veterinary Medicine
Tuskegee University
Tuskegee, Alabama
Ira C. Robinson, Ph.D., R.Ph.
Brandon, Florida
Stephen M. Saft
Priority Healthcare
Lake Mary, Florida
Maria Spense
American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
Bethesda, Maryland
Michael Stewart, M.F.A., M.A.
Director, Public Relations
American Pharmacists Association
Washington, D.C.
Dorothy Whitney
Xavier University of Louisiana
College of Pharmacy
New Orleans, Louisiana
Lori Woodson, R.Ph., M.B.A.
Past President
National Pharmaceutical Association
Richmond Heights, Ohio
Creative Development
Pita Communications LLC
Hartford, Connecticut
Creative Director
Paul Pita
Writers
Kim Pita, Emily Melone
Designer
Lisa Santoro
Web Site
Darci D’Aleo
Keith Knowles
Photography
Lou Jones Studio
Boston, Massachusetts
Photographer
Lou Jones
Assistants
Matt Kalinowski
George Panagakos
RESOURCES
New Orleans Pharmacy Museum
New Orleans, Louisiana
Project Assistant
Myrna Blum
American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
http://www.aacp.org/
Printing
Riegel Printing Company, Inc.
Ewing, New Jersey
American Pharmacists Association
http://www.aphanet.org/
National Pharmaceutical Association
http://www.npha.net/
CREDITS
Produced by Aetna Inc.
Hartford, Connecticut
Project Manager
Peggy J. Garrity
Editors
Maisha J. Cobb
Ann Marie Gothard
TO ORDER CALENDARS
Calendars are available for $4 each. Proceeds from the
calendar sales will benefit the National Pharmaceutical
Association Foundation to fund scholarships for members
of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association.
To order, please send a check payable to Aetna to:
Aetna Calendar
Corporate Communications
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Hartford, CT 06156-3213
Phone: 860-273-0509
VISIT US ON THE WEB
www.aetna.com/diversity/aahcalendar/2005/index.html
AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY CALENDAR
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