From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Anderson, Heidi M.
In 2013, Dr. Heidi M. Anderson left the University of Kentucky when she was named the first African American female pharmacist to be appointed Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of the Sciences [source: "USciences names Dr. Heidi M. Anderson Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs," at newswise.com]. In 2015, she was named Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Texas A&M University-Kingsville [source: "Heidi Anderson to be the next Provost at Texas A&M University-Kingsville," at The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education website]. She was reassigned to the position of Special Assistant to the President at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. [source: "Office of the President - Special Assistant to the President, a Texas A&M University-Kingsville website].Dr. Anderson, from Gary, IN, was the first female pharmacist to serve as Executive Director of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) in 1979. She has a very long list of firsts, including being the first African American female pharmacists to serve in the following positions: Secretary (1995-1998) and Chair (1997-1999) of the Section of Teachers of Social and Administrative Sciences; and serving as Secretary (1997-1999) of the Council of Faculties of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. She was the first African American faculty member in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Tennessee, starting in 1986, and at Auburn University in 1989 where she was also the Department Chair.
She arrived at the University of Kentucky in 2002, and would become the first African American female Assistant Dean of the College of Pharmacy (2002-2006), and from 2006-2012, she was the first to be named Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs. In 2011, she was the first to be named Interim Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness, and was appointed to the position in 2012.
Dr. Anderson received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from Purdue University. Among the many honors that she has received are the following:
- 2004 Fellow in the charter class of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP)
- 2005 Fellow for outstanding service and leadership to the pharmacy profession, American Pharmacists Association (FAPhA)
- 2002-2012 Appointed a member of the Accreditation Council on Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Board of Directors
- 2010 Named Distinguished Alumni at Purdue University
- 2010 & 2011 President of Accreditation Council on Pharmacy Education (ACPE)
* Dr. Heidi M. Anderson is the wife of Leon Roberts, Jr., a native of Paris, Kentucky.
* In 2018, Dr. Heidi M. Anderson was named President of University of Maryland Eastern Shore.