The Honorable Dennis W. Archer leads a "Conversation on Diversity" Oct. 3 at the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (EACPHS), Wayne State University (WSU).

Dennis W. Archer

Part of the WSU college's second annual "Celebrating a History of Diversity," the evening also focuses attention on five individuals who have made significant contributions to their health science professions. This year's honorees are the late Bernard Thomas Downs, a retired pharmacist from Detroit General Hospital; Mable Sharp, owner/therapist of Healthcare Alternatives, Southfield; O'Neil D. Swanson, Sr., president and founder of Swanson Funeral Homes, Inc., Detroit; Velma Lewis Ward, PhD, retired assistant director of the Clinical Laboratory at the Lafayette Clinic; and Prudentia Worth, PhD, EACPHS director, Nurse Anesthesia program.

"This celebration supports the college's Diversity Advisory Board (DAB) endowment scholarship fund and honors those who have been instrumental in furthering diversity within their professions," said Howard J. Normile, EACPHS interim dean. "Our honorees serve as role models for future pharmacists and health science professionals whom the DAB endowed scholarship fund will assist."

The DAB is a 14-member board of business and community leaders who are charged with recommending and implementing strategies to build a culturally and ethnically diverse educational environment within the college.

The "Celebrating a History of Diversity" festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. with a VIP reception. Capping the evening's celebration is a strolling dinner, which leads guests through the college's five-story, state-of-the-art academic and research facility.

Tickets are $125 per person for the "Conversation on Diversity," awards ceremony, and strolling dinner; $150/per person includes all activities and the VIP reception; and the $200 patron ticket affords special acknowledgment during the awards ceremony and strolling dinner. Tickets are available from EACPHS Development Director Lisa Whitmore Davis at (313) 577-0273; email: aj2436@wayne.edu; or visit the "Celebrating a History of Diversity" website at https://specialevents.wayne.edu/dab for more information on the event. The college and event are located at 259 Mack Avenue at John R in Detroit.

Archer served two four-year terms as mayor of the City of Detroit (1994-2001) and is a former Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court; in both capacities he earned national and international acclaim. Additionally, he was the first person of color to be elected president of the American Bar Association as well as the State Bar of Michigan. He has served as president of the Wolverine Bar Association and the National Bar Association, and in his final year on the bench, he was named "Most Respected Judge" in Michigan by the Michigan Lawyers Weekly. Presently, he is chair of Dickinson Wright, a Detroit-based law firm with more than 200 attorneys and offices in Michigan and Washington, D.C. Archer also sits on the corporate boards of Johnson Controls Inc., Compuware Corporation, and Masco Corporation.

Honorary co-chairs for the "Celebrating a History of Diversity" are Lena Barkley, CVS/Caremark; Betty Brooks, philanthropist; Eleanor Josaitis, co-founder, Focus:HOPE; the honorable Brenda Jones, councilmember, City of Detroit; Luther Keith, executive director, ARISE! Detroit; Gail Perry Mason, first vice president, Oppenheimer & Co., Inc.; and Phyliss D. Meadows, PhD, health officer and director, Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion.

The Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, a founding college of Wayne State University, is committed to advancing the health and well-being of society through the preparation of highly skilled health care practitioners, and through research to improve health care practices and treatment from the urban to global levels.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 12 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students in metropolitan Detroit.