Buies Creek, N.C.-The Campbell University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences has announced a scholarship in memory of alumnus Dr. Thomas Furman. Furman, who passed away last February, served as pharmacist-manager of Boone Drug, Inc., King Street location. He had been employed by the pharmacy his father established in the mid 1960s since graduating from Campbell in 1991.
Furman, who was the focus of the College’s 24th opening convocation held Wednesday, August 26, was known in his community as someone who genuinely enjoyed helping people. In his convocation remarks, Jack Watts, former president of the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists, urged Campbell students to follow Furman’s example.
“Get involved,” Watts said. “Get out in your community and make yourself known. In my opinion pharmacists are going to be taking over many of the responsibilities of doctors in the future.”
Furman’s widow Renee remembered him as thorough and caring.
“After he filled their prescriptions, Tom always took time to listen to his patients and provide advice,” she said. “We have an old church pew in the drug store where they would sit and talk. Tom always said Campbell had prepared him to be the kind of pharmacist he wanted to be.”
In addition to serving his patients in Boone, Furman volunteered in disadvantaged countries such as Afghanistan, Vietnam and Iraq. He is described by his family, friends and colleagues as someone who believed that service was not an option, but an opportunity and a duty to the community and the greater world.
Furman’s professional philosophy evolved from his compassion for people, said his wife.
“Usually patients have spent a long time waiting at a doctor’s office and not feeling well,” he was quoted as saying. “By the time they get to the drug store a simple smile is often a cure in itself.”
The College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences welcomed 108 new Pharm.D. students and 329 returning students at the convocation service.
Photo Copy: Renee Furman speaks to students at Campbell University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences’ opening convocation in August. (Photo by Bennett Scarborough)