President Henry Lewis III Biography

Dr. Henry Lewis III is the twelfth president of Florida Memorial University, South Florida’s only Historically Black University and the third oldest institution of higher learning in the state of Florida. He has served as Dean and Professor in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Florida A&M University (FAMU) for the last 15 years. Dr. Lewis served as Interim President of FAMU from January through June 2002. He also served as Dean of the Texas Southern University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences for four years.

A native of Tallahassee, Florida, he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Pharmacy from FAMU and his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Mercer University. He completed post-doctoral training in the Institute for Education Management at Harvard University, the National Institutes of Health, the Congressional Operations Institute, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Millennium Presidential Leadership Program and Duke University Directors Program.

Dr. Lewis is past president of the Minority Health Professions Foundation. He is also past president of the Foundation’s sister agency, the Association of Minority Health Professions Schools. Under his leadership, these two organizations-representing all of the nations historically black medical, dental, pharmaceutical, and veterinary medical programs-have secured over $100 million in support of programs, research and activities that improve the quality of education and the availability of health care to minority and under-served communities. He has served as president of the National Pharmaceutical Association representing more than 10,000 minority pharmacists in the United States. He is the former Chairman of the Board of the Florida Education Fund, the nation’s largest producer of African-American PhD’s.

An accomplished biomedical researcher with a focus on sickle cell anemia, Dr. Lewis has been the principal investigator or project director on research/training grants totaling over $95 million. He has served on numerous governmental review committees. The Secretary of HHS appointed him to currently serve on the National Center for Research Resources National Advisory Board. He has increased the endowment of the FAMU College of Pharmacy from $1 million to over $22 million under his leadership.

Dr. Lewis has testified before over a dozen Congressional subcommittees on health, research, and education funding issues. In 1986, he made history by becoming the first African American elected to the Leon County Board of County Commissioners in Tallahassee, Florida. While a Commissioner, he spearheaded the creation of the County’s Minority Business Enterprise program, developed the branch health clinic network throughout the county, successfully advocated legislative funding for a $2.5 million clinic building, and located the new $20 million county public library downtown adjacent to the C.K. Steele bus terminal in the district he represented, making it accessible to all citizens of the city.

He has published over 25 scientific papers, book chapters and abstracts. He has received many awards and honors throughout his career. Among them are the FAMUAN of the Century, Outstanding Educator Award, Dr. Martin Luther King Leadership Award, Outstanding Tallahassean Award, Pharmacist of the Year, Teacher of the Year, Administrator of the Year and the National Faculty Researcher of the Year. Additionally, Eckerd Drugs (now CVS) funded the Henry Lewis III, Endowed Chair in his name, and the Richardson-Lewis Health Center in Tallahassee is named in his honor by the County Commission. Earlier this year, the National Pharmaceutical Association bestowed its highest recognition, the Wendell T. Hill Award upon him. He was re-elected to serve a second term on the Board of Directors of the Capital City Bank Group.