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ACP News
Rite Aid CEO Sammons to address Class of 2007
at ACP's 127th Commencement
ALBANY, N.Y. (March 5, 2007) - Mary F. Sammons, president and chief executive
officer of Rite Aid Corp., will be the speaker at ACP's 127th Commencement,
President James J. Gozzo has announced. The college also will award Ms. Sammons
an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
Ms. Sammons joined Rite Aid as president and chief
operating officer in 1999. She was promoted to chief executive in 2003 and has been the catalyst behind the company's revitalization. Her responsibilities will include approximately 5,000 drugstores nationwide with annual revenue close to $27 billion when Rite Aid's acquisition of the Brooks and Eckerd drugstore chains is complete. At that time, she also will be named chairman of the company.
Last fall, Ms. Sammons was selected by The Wall Street Journal as one of its "50 Women to Watch," while Fortune magazine named her among its "50 Most Rite Aid CEO Mary F. Sammons
Powerful Women" for the fourth consecutive year.
"Mary Sammons has distinguished herself as an exceptional leader in both the pharmacy and business communities," Dr. Gozzo said. "We are honored that she has accepted our invitation to share her experience and insight with the members of our Class of 2007."
ACP's 127th Commencement will be held Sunday, May 6 at 2 p.m. at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany .
Before joining Rite Aid, Ms. Sammons was president and CEO of Fred Meyer Stores, a 137-store food, drug and general merchandise retailer in the Pacific Northwest and a unit of Fred Meyer, Inc. In her 26 years at Fred Meyer, she held positions of increasing responsibility in all areas of operations and merchandising.
From 2003-2005, Ms. Sammons served as the chair of the board of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, and continues as a member of the Executive Committee. She is a member of Rite Aid's board of directors and president of the Rite Aid Foundation as well as a director of First Horizon National Corp.
Founded in 1881, Albany College of Pharmacy is the oldest pharmacy school in New York state and one of the only private, independent pharmacy schools in the United States . The college has a long history of serving its students and health care professionals as one of the premier pharmacy colleges in the nation. The college now enters a new era in health care with a focus not only on pharmacy, but also on pharmaceutical sciences, biomedical technology and research.