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NABP Honors Executive Director Emeritus with Dedication of Fred T. Mahaffey Boardroom
For the years of dedication he gave to the pharmacy profession, the late Executive Director Emeritus of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (NABP®), Fred T. Mahaffey, RPh, PharmD(Hon), will have an enduring place at NABP. On February 8, 2007, NABP commemorated its former patriarch with the dedication of the Fred T. Mahaffey Boardroom at its Mount Prospect, IL headquarters.
Dr Mahaffey died on June 19, 2006, at the age of 82, leaving as his legacy an Association much more robust — and better equipped to assist the state boards of pharmacy in protecting the public health — than the one he entered a half-century before.
In 1956, following a term on the Missouri Board of Pharmacy, Dr Mahaffey joined NABP's meager staff of three as the assistant to the executive director. In 1962, he succeeded P. H. Costello to become NABP's third executive director, a position he held for 25 years.
One of his most visible accomplishments during his tenure at NABP was to oversee the development of a national licensure examination for the state boards of pharmacy. In 1968, NABP, under Mahaffey's leadership, created the Blue Ribbon Examination for Licensure, the first standardized pharmacist licensing examination, setting the bar for the minimum knowledge and skills required to enter practice. The Blue Ribbon later evolved into the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination™ (NAPLEX®), the current professional standard used by all 50 state boards of pharmacy.
Dr Mahaffey also helped to develop the national drug code, by which pharmaceutical products are identified and reported to Food and Drug Administration as required by the Drug Listing Act of 1972. He is also remembered for implementing the NABP number for pharmacies, a national identifier to assist pharmacies in their interactions with payers and claims processors.
In addition, Dr Mahaffey was responsible for the formation of the Federation of Associations of Regulatory Boards in the early 1970s to provide a forum for individuals and organizations interested in professional regulation. He also led national manpower studies, introduced the Federal Drug Law Examination and the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Committee™ program, and served as a member of the United States Pharmacopeia Board of Trustees. Throughout his career, he advocated the important role of the state boards of pharmacy.
After his retirement in 1988, Dr Mahaffey continued to receive recognition for his contributions to the pharmacy profession. NABP created the Fred T. Mahaffey Award in 1995 to recognize member boards of pharmacy that substantially contribute to the protection of the public health and welfare through the enforcement of state and federal laws and regulations. Dr Mahaffey was awarded the Hugo H. Schaefer Award by the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) in 2001 for his “outstanding voluntary contribution to society, the profession of pharmacy, and APhA.” Over the years, Dr Mahaffey's contributions to NABP, the state boards of pharmacy, and the protection of the public health have helped NABP to become one of the leading organizations in the pharmacy profession. So, it is fitting that the symbols of his accomplishments rest in a place where the progress he made is continued today.
Gertrude Levine
