Virginia Society of Health-System Pharmacists

October 12^th is observed as Women Pharmacist Day.  October was chosen for this special honor as it is also National Pharmacist Month.

The 12^th day was selected in honor of the first female Pharmacist in the United States, Elizabeth Gooking Greenleaf for her 12 children.

Today, women pharmacists are deeply dedicated to pharmacy leadership roles, deans of pharmacy schools, advancement of pharmacy education and research, training/mentor program development, and have made significant and profound contributions to development of drugs and treatment.

Women in pharmacy consist of approximately 60% of the pharmacist population and 79% of the technician population.

Women pharmacists have shifted the profession to be one of patient-centered care including physical, emotional and social needs while providing crucial related therapy.

Pharmacy is field in which women have made significant contributions while breaking down barriers.

Here are some famous women who have lead the path!

• Elizabeth Gooking Greenleaf was one of the first female pharmacists in the United States, having opened her own apothecary shop in Boston in 1727. She also published a book on herbal remedies that was widely used at the time.
• Susan Hayhurst - first woman to earn a degree in pharmacy from Philadelphia’s College of Pharmacy.
• Elizabeth Marshall - United States’ second woman to become a pharmacist.
• Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi - first woman to earn a degree from the New York College of Pharmacy in 1863.
• Mary Olds Miner - first woman to be an APhA officer, having been elected as the third vice president in 1895.
• Zada Mary Cooper - Rho Chi Society of Kappa Epsilon Fraternity founder and was one of the founders of the Women’s Section of APhA.
• Anna Gertrude Bagley - first female pharmacist on staff assisting the editor of JAPhA in the 1920s, and was one of the founders of the Women’s Section of APhA.
• Margaret Cornelius “Cora” Dow architect for a successful chain of pharmacies, eventually owning 11 stores, a warehouse, and an ice cream factory.
• Nellie Wakeman- first woman to receive a Ph.D. in a pharmacy discipline, and was a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin from 1913.
• B. Olive Cole - mentor and role model for women in pharmacy, and was a faculty member at the University of Maryland from 1920 to 1953.
• Edna E. Capurra Gleason - first female pharmacist elected president of the California Pharmaceutical Association, and became a leader in the fight for fair trade pricing.
• Sister Mary John Geiermann  - prominent hospital pharmacist at Mercy Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, and was a prolific writer and lecturer.
• Sister Mary Gonzales Duffy - first woman and first religious sister to serve as president of the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists in 1978.
• Gloria Niemeyer Francke  - first woman to earn the Remington Honor Medal in 1987. In 1995, APhA established the Gloria Niemeyer Francke Mentor Leadership Award in her honor.
• Katherine “Kay” Keating - first female pharmacist to attain the rank of Captain in the Navy Medical Corps.
• Mary Louise Tigue Andersen - APhA Honorary President in 1997, and was the recipient of the Remington Honor Medal in 2003.
• Joy Holloman Donelson - APhA Honorary President in 2005, and was responsible for establishing a series of “The Good Ole Girls” dinners at APhA Annual Meetings.
• Mary Munson Runge - first African American women to become president of APhA in 1979, and received the APhA Hugo H. Schaefer Award in 1996.

Please join VSHP as we celebrate the significant contributions that women Pharmacists make EVERY DAY to patients nationwide!