Metta Lou Henderson Recognized for Pioneering Work
Metta Lou Henderson Recognized for Pioneering Work
During the University of Arizona's 125th-year commemoration and 2010 Homecoming celebration, the University of Arizona Alumni Association recognized the achievements of those individuals who have made positive impacts in their communities, professions or support of the university as UA alumni. The Alumnus of the Year award is designed with this goal in mind.
Dr. Metta Lou Henderson, ONU professor of pharmacy emerita and a pioneering woman pharmacist, has been recognized as the UA College of Pharmacy Alumnus of the Year.
Dr. Henderson’s life and career have led her away from Arizona, but her loyalty and devotion to the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy is as strong today as it was when she earned her first degree of three degrees from the university.
In making the award, UA officials called her, "A shining role model to students and alumni since her early days as a Wildcat more than 50 years ago, Metta Lou directed pharmacies and a hospital poison control center, taught at two colleges, and held the Pharmacy Alumni Chair and was an associate dean at Ohio Northern University College of Pharmacy. She also is the first woman to serve as chair of the Council of Faculties of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, and her published work and presentations on women in pharmacy led to her winning the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education Rufus A. Lyman Award.
"In the early 2000s, Metta Lou, the author of American Women Pharmacists: Contributions to the Profession, proposed that the UA College of Pharmacy serve as host and organizing institution for a national conference focusing on the contributions of women in pharmacy. This led to her chairing the conference, The Emerging Majority: Contributions of Women Pharmacists Past, Present, and Future, held in Tucson.
"Metta Lou is an avid mentor to members of the UA chapter of Kappa Epsilon and she is a faithful financial supporter of the UA, giving annually since the early 1970s. In 2009, she became the first UA College of Pharmacy alumna to set up a large gift to benefit future generations of students through her estate, half of which she is leaving to the college to establish an endowed scholarship.
"With a great deal of pleasure, we present the UA College of Pharmacy Alumnus of the Year Award to Metta Lou Henderson — a most dedicated friend and alumna."
