University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Capital Campaign

With more than 25 years of experience as a practicing pharmacist and business owner, Fred Abramson brings a unique perspective to the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and the hundreds of students he has taught over the years.

After graduating from the School of Pharmacy in 1956, Fred joined the Read Drug and Chemical Co. (now Rite Aid) and managed the operations and staff at four locations. With three years of success in retail management under his belt, he gained the confidence and skills to open his own community pharmacy in Essex, Md. With Fred’s solid background in marketing, sales, and personnel, the Eastern Pharmacy flourished from 1962 through 1982.

Fred joined the School of Pharmacy faculty in 1982 and has played a pivotal role in educating the pharmacy work force. As director of the School’s Pharmacy Practice Laboratory, affectionately known as the “Fred Lab,” Fred developed the curriculum for Practice Management. In preparing students to deal with the technological advances in pharmacy practice, he saw the need to upgrade equipment and learning facilities. Under his guidance, the School created a state-of-the-art learning center that accurately reflects community pharmacy practice.

Fred devotes many hours each year to professional organizations and students. He is a member of the Maryland Pharmacists Association (MPhA), the National Community Pharmacists Association, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the Rho Chi Society, and the Phi Lambda Sigma Pharmacy Leadership Society. He has been honored with numerous awards and citations including honorary president of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Alumni Association (1998), honorary president of the MPhA (1998) and its Mentor of the Year (2005), a past member of the MPhA Board of Trustees (1999), University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Teacher of the Year (1998), Best Class Advisor (1995), and Honored Alumnus (2002).

For 30 years, Fred Abramson has been introducing pharmacy students to the traditions and advancements of community pharmacy at the Fred Lab on the third floor of Pharmacy Hall. Students there have also heard his “rules” for the practicing pharmacist — rules that have become guiding principles for many School of Pharmacy graduates.

In honor of Fred, the new pharmacy practice lab in Pharmacy Hall Addition — now under construction — will be named the Alfred Abramson Pharmacy Practice Lab and, like the current pharmacy practice laboratory, it will be better known as the “Fred Lab.” The School has established an endowed fund to provide support for this lab. We ask all who know and love Fred to support this new endowment and help keep alive his legacy of putting people first in the practice of community pharmacy.