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WesternU / College of Pharmacy / Outreach & Events / College of Pharmacy: Ray Symposium

College of Pharmacy: Ray Symposium

About the Ray Symposium

Max RayThe Ray Symposium, an annual speaker series, honors Max D. Ray, MS, PharmD, Dean Emeritus of the WesternU College of Pharmacy. As Professor and Dean from 1996-2006, he created a stimulating educational environment that fostered excellence and professionalism.

 

His professional career was divided almost equally into pharmacy practice, association management, and education. A major focus of his work throughout his career was seeking ways in which to improve the value of pharmacy to society.

 

Today, the Ray Symposium celebrates the multifaceted role that pharmacists play in improving the lives of patients and the health of their communities.

Person with red hair and glasses wearing a blue sweater and necklace, standing outdoors with green foliage in the background.

2025 Ray Symposium Women In White Coats

The 19th Annual Ray Symposium – March 20, 2025, 12:00 -1:00 p.m. (virtual presentation)

Olivia Campbell is the New York Times bestselling author of Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine and Sisters in Science: How Four Women Physicists Escaped Nazi Germany and Made Scientific History. She is also an editor at Dotdash Meredith and Everyday Health, a thesis advisor for Johns Hopkins University’s science writing program, and a regular contributor to National Geographic. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, History.com, The Guardian, Scientific American, Aeon, STAT News, Undark, and New York Magazine, among others.

“Women in White Coats” tells the remarkable story of three Victorian women who broke down barriers in the medical field to become the first women doctors, changing how women received health care. In the early 1800s, women were dying in large numbers from treatable diseases because they avoided receiving medical care. Examinations performed by male doctors were often demeaning and even painful. In addition, women faced stigma from illness. With gripping storytelling based on extensive research and access to archival documents, Women in White Coats tells the courageous history these three women made by becoming doctors, detailing the boundaries they broke of gender and science to reshape how we receive medical care today.
  • Ray Symposiums

    Rear Admiral (retired) Scott GibersonRear Admiral (retired) Scott Giberson

    CEO of AMI Expeditionary Healthcare (USA)
    “Be Infectious. Navigating through an Era of Plagues, Politics, and Public Health”
    April 25, 2024   2022 Ray Symposium Presentation


    April 28, 2022   2022 Ray Symposium PresentationPhoto of Daniel Kraft, MDDaniel Kraft, MD
    Physician-Scientist and Innovator
    “Catalyzing the Future of Health and Medicine: What’s Next?”
    April 27, 2023


    Portrait of Asaf BittonAsaf Bitton, MD, MPH
    Executive Director of Ariadne Labs
    “Health Systems Improvement – Scaling for the Globe”
    April 28, 2022   2022 Ray Symposium Presentation


    Aaron KesselheimAaron Kesselheim, MD, JD, MPH
    Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School
    “Drug Regulations in the 21st Century- The FDA,  Policy, and Politics?”
    April 22, 2021   2021 Ray Symposium Presentation


    Katherine Eban
    Investigative Journalist
    “The Hidden World Behind America’s Low-Cost Drugs”
    April 30, 2020   2020 Ray Symposium Presentation


    Cato T. Laurencin, featured speakerCato T. Laurencin, MD, PhD
    University Professor, The University of Connecticut
    “Addressing the Future of Health in America: Diversity, Racism and Health Disparities”
    April 18, 2019


    Alan L. LeshnerAlan I. Leshner, PhD
    CEO-Emeritus, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Former Executive Publisher, Science
    “Communicating Science Effectively”
    April 19, 2018  2018 Ray Symposium Presentation


     Dana Goldman, PhD

    Dana Goldman, PhD
    Professor, Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair and Director for the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics
    “Re-Thinking Value in an Era of Health Reform”
    April 20, 2017   2017 Ray Symposium Presentation


     Michael W. Kalichman, PhD

    Michael W. Kalichman, PhD
    Professor, Director of the UCSD Research Ethics Program
    “Science, Truth and the Public Trust”
    April 21, 2016   2016 Ray Symposium Presentation


     Ellen Peters, PhD

    Ellen Peters, PhD
    Professor of Psychology, Director of the Behavioral Decision Making Initiative, The Ohio State University
    “Numeracy and Health: A Tyranny of Numbers”
    April 30, 2015   2015 Ray Symposium Presentation


    Eileen Crimmins, PhDEileen Crimmins, PhD
    AARP Chair in Gerontology, USC Davis School of Gerontology
    “Shorter Lives, Poorer Health”
    April 17, 2014


    Patricia B. Crawford, Dr. PH, RDPatricia B. Crawford, Dr. PH, RD
    Director, Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health Cooperative Extension Nutrition Specialist
    “Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention”
    April 18, 2013


    Joshua S. Benner, PharmD, ScDJoshua S. Benner, PharmD, ScD
    President and CEO, RxAnte, Inc. and Visiting Scholar, The Brookings Institution
    “Reforming Health Care: Policy, Politics, and Patient Care”
    April 12, 2012


    William E. Evans, PharmD William E. Evans, PharmD

    Director and CEO, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
    “The Promise of Genomics – What Lies Ahead?”
    April 21, 2011


    Michael Cohen, RPh, MS, ScD

    Michael Cohen, RPh, MS, ScD
    President of The Institute for Safe Medication Practices
    “Safe Medication Practices – Preventing Errors”
    April 15, 2010


    David B. Reuben, MDDavid B. Reuben, MD
    Director, Multicampus Program in Geriatrics Medicine and Gerontology (MPGMG) and Chief, Division of Geriatrics at UCLA Center for Health Sciences“Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce”
    April 9, 2009


    Brian Smedley, PhDBrian Smedley, PhD
    Research Director and Co-founder of the Opportunity Agenda
    “Eliminating Disparities”
    April 17, 2008


    Lyle BootmanionLyle Bootman
    Co-editor, 2006 National Institutes of Medicine Report
    “Preventing Medication Errors”
    April 19, 2007


  • Thank you to our sponsors for their generous support.

    Individual Sponsors:

    Dr. Max R. Johnson

    Dr. Jonathan Chan

    Rebecca Cupp, RPh

    Dr. Lilia Xu