The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Alumni Association presented its 2016 service awards to alumni Gene Minton and Gary Bowman at a dinner held at the Governors Club in Chapel Hill on Nov. 4.
Pharmacy Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award
Gene Minton of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina was presented with the Pharmacy Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award. This award is presented to an alumnus whose accomplishments and contributions enhance the School and the profession of pharmacy at the local, state, national or international level.
As president of the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy in 2011-2012, Minton negotiated with state legislators and built consensus that led to the passage of House Bill 832, which expanded pharmacists’ immunization authority and the reach of key vaccines to adults across the state. The bill was hailed as a historic revision of the state’s Pharmacy Practices Act.
Minton has served as chairman of the Halifax County Board of Commissioners, mayor and city councilman for Roanoke Rapids and chairman of the Halifax County Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has also been on the county’s Economic Development Commission and was a founding member of Select Bank & Trust and Select Bancorp in Greenville, North Carolina.
Minton received his Bachelor of Science in pharmacy from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 1975 and is a past member of the UNC Board of Visitors. He is a founding member of the Association of Community Pharmacists and served as ACP’s chairman and vice chairman. He is also a member of the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists, National Community Pharmacists Association and North Carolina Board of Pharmacy.
Minton received the Bowl of Hygeia award in 2000 for outstanding service to his community and profession and was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 2010 by Gov. Bev Perdue for his service to the state.
Samuel B. Burrus Family Award for Community Service
Gary Bowman of Oxford, North Carolina received the Samuel B. Burrus Family Award for Community Service. The Burrus Award is given annually to an alumnus of the School in recognition of outstanding and unselfish civic, community or church volunteer service outside the scope of regular pharmacy practice.
Bowman, who received his Bachelor of Science in pharmacy in 1984, has served as Chairman of the Board of the Granville Health System, president of the Granville Education Foundation, president of the Oxford Rotary Club and president of the Pharmacy Alumni Association. He is the current president of the Pharmacy Foundation Board, and he has held multiple leadership roles in his church, the Oxford United Methodist Church.