Dr. Henry N. Young, Head of the College of Pharmacy’s Clinical and Administrative Department, will be a recipient of the prestigious 2022 President’s Fulfilling the Dream Award. Dr. Young is the first recipient of the President’s Fulfilling the Dream Award from the College.
The award will be presented at the 19th annual MLK Freedom Breakfast, which due to COVID-19 is now being held virtually as a pre-recorded video, available by Monday, January 17th on the UGA Facebook Page and the Office of Institutional Diversity website.
The President’s Fulfilling the Dream Award recognizes individuals in the UGA and Athens-Clarke County communities who have worked to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of equality and justice a reality. Award winners demonstrate commitment to volunteerism and civic engagement in addressing critical community issues; utilize King’s philosophy to reduce tensions, resolve conflict and foster goodwill; and apply King’s teachings to build bridges of understanding and unity.
“Recognized on the university, local, state, and national levels for his work and expertise, Dr. Young embraces various service and professional roles that not only have a significant impact but are unique change agents for the greater good,” remarked Kelly Smith, Dean of the College of Pharmacy, in her letter of nomination of Dr. Young for the award.
Dr. Young’s scholarship and career has been dedicated to assuring the provision of health care for all citizens, especially minorities, the underserved, and less privileged. Evidence of this commitment is his recent award of a USDA grant, totaling almost $1 million, to develop a Distant Learning and Telemedicine Program for underserved populations in rural Georgia.
Dr. Young has partnered with key university units, including the Archway Partnership, the Office of Public Service and Outreach, and the School of Social Work; College of Pharmacy colleagues and students; and even vital rural Georgia community groups since arriving at UGA in 2013. One of the notable partnerships forged by Dr. Young is Fishers of Men, a group of church leaders in Pulaski and surrounding counties. With the help of the Archway Partnership, Dr. Young established the group to serve as outreach ambassadors in this rural Central Georgia community to encourage other men to take ownership of their health and wellness. Along with this collaboration, Dr. Young also has worked with physicians in rural Georgia to help them not only better educate patients on the perils of opioid abuse, but to help them understand how the opioid epidemic can adversely affect their practice. Further, he is a co-author of a new book just released, Fast Facts: Medication Adherence – A practical approach to optimizing medication use, published by Karger.
Among many of his professional, civic and community engagements, Dr. Young serves on the UGA Presidential Task Force on Race, Ethnicity, and Community, and he is the Past-President of the UGA Black Faculty and Staff Organization. In addition, he is a recent past member of the COVID-19 Return to Campus Working Group focused on Public Service and Outreach, Continuing Education, and Cooperative Extension. In the local community, he is the current Board Chair of the Athens Neighborhood Health Center, and he participated in the Georgia Department of Public Health’s Asthma Strategic Planning Committee. Dr. Young is a national leader in his discipline, as evidenced by his current role as the Section Chair for the American Pharmacists Association – Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Science – Economic, Social, and Administrative Section, and he previously chaired the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, Health Outcomes Practice and Research Network.
Said Dean Smith, “Through his teaching, research, and service, Dr. Young embodies the essence of Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream for equality and justice for all humankind. We are immensely proud of Dr. Young for this well-deserved honor and recognition.”
