Alumni Affairs
History in the Making
Lending a Helping Hand
Throop Museum room dedicated to Gary Hall ’57
Marilyn Shearer Green ’57 There is a crucial need for pharmacists to accompany medical missions to the Dominican Republic
Retired faculty member Gary Hall ’57 has himself been a part of ACP’s history for more than four decades, ever since he first arrived at the College as a freshman in the fall of 1953. Now his role in preserving the history of pharmacy at the school has been recognized as well. On June 1, 2007, the manufacturing room at ACP’s Throop Pharmacy Museum was dedicated to Gary in recognition of his role in preserving the past and the future of the Throop, and in honor of his 50th Class Reunion. Gary Hall has always loved history. Though he was actively involved in the life of ACP and an editor for the Mortar and Pestle and Alembic Pharmakon, the yearbook noted that “when not sleeping, shooting darts or playing cards, Gary could be found
Doris and Gary Hall chat with a friend outside of the Throop Museum
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curled up in a corner reading a history book.” By the time Gary got to ACP, the historic O.B. Throop Drugstore had been in residence for 15 years, ever since the day in 1938 when it was moved “lock, stock and barrel” from Schoharie, N.Y., and reassembled at the College as a pharmacy museum. With its show globes, herbal remedies and compounding equipment, the Throop provided Gary and his fellow students with a glimpse pharmacy’s past. The old store, established in 1800 by Jabez W. Throop, was first located in the O’Brien Building upstairs from the modern “model” pharmacy, which occasioned the yearbook to note that “two flights of stairs span more than a century of the art of pharmacy.” By the 1950s, the old store had suffered heat and water damage and, with its poor facilities and lighting, was not the least bit conducive to the study of pharmacy history. When Gary graduated in 1957, he could not have imagined that his path would eventually lead him back to ACP and the Throop. After earning his master’s degree from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1960 and exploring several career opportunities in pharmacy and pharmaceutical research, he returned to ACP in 1966 to try his hand at teaching. “I intended to stay just one year and then figure out what I wanted to do,” he says with a laugh. That was the beginning of 35 dedi-
cated years at the College until his retirement as a professor of pharmaceutics in 2001. During Gary’s tenure at ACP, the Throop Museum had been relocated from a small room on the top floor of the O’Brien Building to the present day site of the George ’28 and Leona Lewis Library. When the library was expanded in 2000, the College took the opportunity to renovate the Throop and reassemble it in a much more prominent location near the original entrance to the College. Gary played an active role in the process, from collecting memorabilia to working with museum curator Lee Anna Obos ’91 to ensure that the new renovations remained true to the museum’s history. After his 2001 retirement, Gary made possible the future development of the museum and encouraged scholarship and research relating to the history of pharmacy through a generous gift to the Throop Pharmacy Museum Endowment. Now located just upstairs from the state-of-the art pharmacy practice lab (itself in the building’s former gymnasium), the Throop is a highlight of College tours and reminder of just how far the field has come since 1881 when Albany College of Pharmacy was established. And once again, thanks to Gary Hall, a flight of stairs separates more than a hundred years in the history of pharmacy!
She may have retired from her job as director of pharmacy at a 200-bed nursing care facility in Lyons, N.Y., but Marilyn Shearer Green is far from a couch potato!! Since 2003 she has been director of Helping Hand Clinic, a free clinic in Sanford, N.C. North Carolina has the largest number of free clinics in the U.S. Supported primarily by grants and donations, the facilities provide a much-needed source of medical care to uninsured and low-income state residents. Marilyn’s new career began innocently enough when she began volunteering as a pharmacist at the clinic in 2001. Before too long, she was invited to serve as director and stepped into her new role with relish. Now she serves as an “ambassador” for the clinic, spreading the word to others who may be interested in helping as she does. With so many retirees heading to North Carolina these days, Marilyn figures there are bound to be
others like her who aren’t quite ready to call it quits for good! “If any pharmacist is interested in volunteering even for a short time, the need is there,” says Marilyn. “If anyone is thinking of retiring to North Carolina, they might consider locating where there is a free clinic operating.” Marilyn herself works about a hundred hours a month as director. “It gives me time to enjoy retirement but also allows me to be active in my profession and serve those in need.” She goes on to say that there are jobs that can be done in just a few hours a week, including a critical need for pharmacists, or assignments that can be completed in one fell swoop. “We have a medical team that goes to the Dominican Republic for a week every year. There are physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists and lay people,” she explains. “We divide into two teams – one goes to the hospital to
perform surgery while the other goes into the sugar cane villages to treat residents.” Pharmacists pay their own way to accompany the medical mission while the clinic supplies the drugs. All expenses are included in the $1,500 fee. Volunteers stay in a comfortable, though not luxurious, hotel with a pool and basic meals included. Last year, after reconnecting with Marilyn while serving on a planning committee for their 50th Reunion, fellow retired classmate J. Gordon Dailey ’57 was so impressed with the work that Marilyn and the medical mission were carrying out that he accompanied the group to the poverty-stricken country. “The poverty is extreme and the need great, but the rewards are also great,” says Marilyn. For more information, call Marilyn Green at the clinic at (919) 776-4359 or at home at (919) 776-1026.
DEAN’S CUP A WINNER ACP had an outstanding turnout for its 14th Annual Dean's Cup, which was held at Normanside Country Club in Delmar, N.Y. The weather cooperated and participants enjoyed a day of golf, sunshine, contests, great food and an awards presentation – all for a great cause, the Dean's Endowment for Excellence Scholarship Fund. Nearly $77,000 was raised for student scholarships. Nora Morgan, this year's Dean's Scholarship recipient, and her dad joined ACP President James J. Gozzo, Ph.D., left, and Dean Mehdi Boroujerdi, Ph.D., right, prior to the awards dinner for a congratulatory talk.
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