Laurinburg pharmacist and Campbell grad James Edward “Ed” Herring, Jr., received the 2013 M. Keith Fearing, Jr., Community Pharmacy Practice Award from Campbell University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences on April 5.
“Eighteen years ago I left Campbell, but my heart didn’t leave,” Herring said during the award presentation. “I feel very fortunate because of the faculty who helped me get where I am today. I remember when I was failing Dr. Al-Achi’s class in school. He drove from Cary on a Sunday to study with me for five hours. You just don’t find that anywhere. There are such influential people here, so many who want to see students succeed.”
The award is given in memory of Keith Fearing, a 1941 Campbell grad who established the first pharmacy in Dare County in 1947, and served as a founding member of Campbell University’s then School of Pharmacy. The Fearing Award has been presented annually since 1997, recognizing pharmacists who have made outstanding contributions to their profession and community.
After earning his doctor of pharmacy degree from Campbell in 1995, Dr. Herring practiced pharmacy at Scotland HealthCare Systems, Eli Lilly and Company and Medical Village Pharmacy before purchasing Medical Village in 2003 with his wife Carla, who is also a pharmacist. Five years later, the couple purchased Scotland Drug Company. Together they own and operate both of these independent pharmacies located in Laurinburg, N.C.
Herring is past president, founding board member, and lifetime member of the Campbell University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences Alumni Association. In addition, Herring has been a guest speaker in the classroom and during Convocation. He is a member of the Dean’s Board of Advisors and serves as a preceptor. Through his strong financial support of the pharmacy program’s teaching facility, Maddox Hall, Herring named a lecture hall in memory of his father, James Edward Herring, Sr., and a lab in honor of an esteemed prior faculty member, Dr. James Junker.
In 2007, Herring received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Campbell University’s National Alumni Association. Three years later, he was honored with the first Distinguished Alumni Award from the College’s Alumni Association.
Herring is an active member of his community, serving on the North Carolina Mutual Wholesale Drug Retail Advisory Committee, Scotland Memorial Hospital Foundation Board, Community One Bank Advisory Board, and Boy Scouts of America Executive Committee for the Cape Fear region. He also works closely with Hospice of Scotland County by serving as their consultant pharmacist.
“If you look at the list of past recipients, it’s really a who’s-who of pharmacy leaders in North Carolina,” said Dr. Byron May, chair of pharmacy practice at Campbell. “Dr. Herring is suited to be on the list given his accomplishments since graduating, and it is a pleasure for us to recognize him.”
Herring and his wife reside in Laurinburg with their three children, sons Hannon and Harmon and daughter, Carlea.
Photo: Dr. Ron Maddox, dean of the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, and Ms. Lib Fearing, widow of Keith Fearing, present the Keith Fearing Community Pharmacy Practice Award to Dr. Ed Herring, class of 1995.