Donald O. Fedder, DrPH, MPH, BSP, FAPhA, founder of The Board of Certification/Accreditation, International (BOC), and BOC’s CEO from 1984-2006, died on August 28, 2010. He was 82.
“Don was an inspiration to so many people,” said BOC president and chief executive Claudia Zacharias, MBA, CAE. “He was a man of multiple achievements-as a pharmacist, a teacher, an advocate, a leader in O&P, a researcher, a husband, and father. It was important to Don to give back, and he took joy in doing so. In many ways, Don Fedder was a model of public and community service. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to talk with and learn from him, and I feel privileged to play a part in the stewardship of his legacy. We will miss him.”
After graduating from the pharmacy school at the University of Maryland (UMD), Baltimore, Fedder began his career as a pharmacist in 1950. His pharmacy in Dundalk, Maryland, was the first in the state to carry home-health medical equipment and orthotics, which led to his development of an orthotic practice during the 1960s.
After 20 years, he sold the pharmacy and planned to focus his attention on O&P. He became a consultant to the National Board for Orthotic Certification, and in 1974, he was recruited to serve on his alma mater’s School of Pharmacy faculty. As a clinical instructor, Fedder became active in UMD’s Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research (PHSR) program. His research concentrated on how modifiable behavior could make a difference in health-reducing disease risk, increasing patient compliance with medicines, and improving relationships between patients and healthcare providers. He also founded ENABLE-MD: The Center for Community Outreach, which trained healthcare workers to help high-risk populations with chronic diseases achieve and maintain control of their illnesses. The innovative program earned him community recognition and the UMD 2005 Martin Luther King Jr. Diversity Award.
Fedder returned to college in his 50s, earning master’s and doctoral degrees from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. He founded BOC in 1984 to facilitate increasing the professionalism and the capacity of the O&P profession to meet the needs of the community. BOC recently honored Fedder through the opening of a new headquarters wing bearing his name.
Fedder was also recognized as a fellow of the American Pharmacists Association and the Society for Public Health Education, and as a senior fellow at the Center on Drugs and Public Policy. He served multiple terms as president of the Maryland Public Health Association.
In November 2009, Fedder retired from the Maryland School of Pharmacy as a professor emeritus. Well-known for his support of the arts and the Baltimore community, Fedder believed in learning as a life-long process. He often remarked that just as his students learned from him, he learned from them.
“Don was the heart and soul of BOC for many years,” said Sharon Nichelson, CMOF, chairwoman of BOC’s Board of Directors. “He was a thoughtful and giving individual, committed to enabling community access to care. Locally and nationally, he had a profound impact on thousands of healthcare professionals, students and, ultimately, the patients.”
Colleagues at the UMD School of Pharmacy have created a graduate fellowship in PHSR to honor Fedder’s memory.
He is survived by his wife of 23 years, Michaeline; son, Ira; daughter, Debbie Goren; stepson, Alan Adler; stepdaughter, Lisa McCarthy; and eight grandchildren.
For more information about the PHSR graduate fellowship or to make a contribution, contact Janice Batzold at [email protected] or 410.706.1711.
