Scholarship Endowment Honors Pharmacy Alumnus

 

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Marty Beasley (left), a Caldwell family friend, Bettye Caldwell, Cecilia Caldwell and her husband, Paul Scavotto, enjoy a visit to the University of Mississippi. UM photo by Harry Briscoe.

OXFORD, Miss. – Like most little girls, Cecilia Caldwell
adored her daddy. From the time she was a 2-year-old
sitting beside him as he drove, to fishing with him and her
brothers on Wissahickon Creek, Cecilia could usually be
found by his side. He was her hero.

 

“He is still my hero,” she said. “He always will be. Over
all these years, my love and admiration for him, and my
appreciation of him, have steadily grown. I am so thankful
that he was my father.”

Now, because of a scholarship in his name, Caldwell’s
legacy will live on. Cecilia, along with her mother,
Bettye, and other family members and friends, have created
the Henry Cecil Caldwell Pharmacy Scholarship Endowment to
honor a man they love and dearly miss.

“Dad always encouraged people to do their best – that’s
what he was all about, encouraging people and building them
up,” Cecilia said. “That’s why we thought this scholarship
to assist pharmacy students from Mississippi with financial
need is a fitting way to honor him. Dad achieved great
academic and professional success in his field, and we hope
to make that level of success possible for future
generations of deserving students.”

Recipients of the Caldwell Scholarship are to be full-time
pharmacy students who are Mississippi residents.

Caldwell, a Walnut Grove native, earned a bachelor’s degree
from the UM School of Pharmacy in 1952 and a master’s
degree in pharmaceutical organic chemistry from UM in 1954.
He later earned his Ph.D. in pharmaceutical organic
chemistry from the University of Kansas. In 1954, he
married Bettye Sue Caldwell, a native of Lena and an alumna
of Mississippi College.

His family remembers him as a hard worker and devoted
family man. From his humble beginnings on a chicken farm in
rural Mississippi, he became the first in his family to
graduate from college. He instilled in his children a love
and appreciation for the outdoors, and they recall happy
days walking in the woods, canoeing, tubing, fishing and
rock collecting.

“His Mississippi roots were a big part of him,” Cecilia
said. “He loved this place.”

Caldwell had a long and successful career, working for much
of it at SmithKline & French labs (now GlaxoSmithKline) in
Philadelphia, Pa., and later at AAI in Wilmington, N.C. He
published many significant technical papers and held 23
U.S. patents.

“All who knew him felt he was the kindest, most supportive
person they could ever meet,” said Marty Beasley, a
colleague and family friend. “He was humble even though his
career was very fruitful and he held many important patents
in his name.”

All three of Caldwell’s children have connections to
pharmacy. After attending pharmacy school, Cecilia worked
in the pharmaceutical industry before going to medical
school. She practices as an obstetrics and gynecologist at
the Maine Medical Center in Portland. Brent is a chemist in
Germany for Boehringer Ingleheim, a pharmaceutical company
based in Connecticut. Mark is an architectural engineer who
does a great deal of consulting with pharmaceutical
companies.

“My dad was an enthusiastic supporter of education,”
Cecilia said. “He believed strongly that all deserving
students, even in the face of economic obstacles, should
have access to higher education.”

To give to the Henry Cecil Caldwell Pharmacy Scholarship
Endowment, send a check so designated to the UM
Foundation/H.C. Caldwell Endowment, P.O. Box 249,
University, MS 38677. For more information about the
scholarship or giving to the School of Pharmacy, contact
Sarah Hollis at shollis@olemiss.edu or 800-340-9542.