African American Women in Pharmacy Firsts
1974
Mary Munson Runge
the first African American female to serve as President of the California Pharmacists Association.
1975
Marie L. Best
the first African American woman to serve as Interim Dean of a College of Pharmacy when she was appointed to the position at Howard University College of Pharmacy.
1976
Debra Gray
among the first African American females to complete a pharmacy residency in the U.S. She completed her residency at the University of Kentucky Medical Center.
1979
Bridget Ayeni
the first known African American female to graduate from the Idaho State University College of Pharmacy.
1979
Mary Munson Runge
first woman and African American, to be elected President and Chair of the Board of Directors, in the 126-year history of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA).
1979
Miriam Mobley Smith
first African American female pharmacy resident at the Sinai Hospital of Detroit.
1979
Heidi Anderson
was the first female pharmacist to serve as Executive Director of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association.
1980
Rosalyn Cain King
the first African American female pharmacist to serve as consultant to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
1985
Mary Munson Runge
among the first African American female pharmacists to serve on a state board of pharmacy when she was elected to the California Board of Pharmacy.
1985
Harriett O. Ellis
among the first African American female pharmacists to serve on a state board of pharmacy when she was elected to the New York State Board of Pharmacy.
1985
Diane Tyrance
among the first African American female pharmacists to serve on a state board of pharmacy when she was elected to the Washington District of Columbia Board of Pharmacy.
1986
Regina Jollivette Frazier
first African American female pharmacist, elected President of the Links, Inc. and its Foundation.
1987
Regina Jollivette Frazier
first African American female pharmacist, recognized by Ebony Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans, an honor bestowed upon her for two years in a row (1987, 1988).
1987
Norma Jenkins Stewart
among the first African American female pharmacists to serve as Chief of the District of Columbia Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Control Division.