Dean Natalie D. Eddington, First African American Dean of the School of Pharmacy

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Photograph of Dr. Natalie D. Eddington, dean of the School of Pharmacy

Dr. Natalie D. Eddington, Dean of the School of Pharmacy since 2007.

In 1957, Reverend James E. Hodges became the first African American graduate of the School of Pharmacy.  Fifty years later, Natalie D. Eddington, PhD, FAAPS, FCP was named dean of the school becoming the first woman African American Dean at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). 

Eddington received her BS in Pharmacy from Howard University in 1982 and her PhD from the UMB School of Pharmacy in 1989.  She began her career in the private sector at Pfizer Inc. where she served as assistant director of new drug development from 1988 to 1991.  Eddington joined the faculty at the School of Pharmacy in 1991, serving as Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences from 2003 until she became dean in 2007. 

As dean, Dr. Eddington has opened a 2010 expansion of the School of

Photograph of Pharmacy Hall

Pharmacy Hall, opened in 2010, under Dr. Eddington’s leadership.

Pharmacy’s building, opened a satellite campus at Shady Grove, and established the Center for Nanomedicine and Cellular Delivery.  The center was the first organized research center for the School of Pharmacy and brought together multidisciplinary researchers with the aim of providing better pharmaceutical treatment.  Dr. Eddington believed the future of pharmacy was not behind the counter but in front of it; meaning pharmacists needed to become more active with their patients and their treatments.

In addition to serving as dean, Dr. Eddington has received several awards and honors.  In 2011 she was named a fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology and a fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.  In 2014, she was named executive director of the University Regional Partnerships at UMB where she works with deans across UMB on issues relating to program expansion. Her research interests are in cancer therapy and the treatment for disorders of the central nervous system; she is an expert in pharmacokinetics or the movement of drugs in the body. Dean Eddington continues to lead the School of Pharmacy today, teaching and mentoring the pharmacists of the future. 

 

References:

Fieser, Robyn. “Eddington Sets Ambitious Agenda.” Capsule: University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Alumni Magazine, Winter 2008, p. 6-9. Retrieved from: http://hdl.handle.net/10713/259.

McCausland, Christianna. “Eddington Marks 5-Year Anniversary” Capsule: University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Alumni Magazine, Fall 2012, p. 15-17. Retrieved from: http://hdl.handle.net/10713/4262.

 “Natalie D. Eddington, PhD, FAAPS.” University Leadership, University of Maryland, Baltimore Website. Retrieved from: https://www.umaryland.edu/about-umb/university-leadership/deans/-natalie-d-eddington-phd-faaps/

“Timeline: A Legacy 175 Years in the Making.” Capsule: University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Alumni Magazine, Spring, 2016, p. 11-18. Retrieved from: http://hdl.handle.net/10713/5950

 

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