Karen S. Hudmon, Ohio Northern University class of '86, DrPH, MS, BSPharm, CTTS, FAPhA has been awarded the 2022 Kappa Epsilon Professional Fraternity Career Achievement Award.

The Career Achievement Award was created in 1965 to honor a KE member for their professional accomplishments.

Hudmon has commented, “Kappa Epsilon was an important part of my pharmacy training at Ohio Northern University–one of my most influential faculty mentors, Dr. Metta Lou Henderson, encouraged me to join KE and to pursue a variety of leadership opportunities. She was a guiding force early in my career, taking time to connect with me on a personal level while I was a young student, and by opening doors for professional growth. For decades, she has served as a strong female role model in our profession through KE and also and through her long-standing leadership in APhA.

"After my mother died of lung cancer in 1991, despite having been a former smoker for nearly seven years, the confidence that I had gained throughout my prior training was instrumental in my decision to return to school to become a future cancer prevention researcher. I have spent my entire career working to forge pathways for pharmacists to become engaged in helping patients quit smoking – in recent years, this has included facilitating legislation that permits pharmacists to prescribe tobacco cessation medications (now allowed in 16 states, with many more in process). The strong foundational knowledge, skills, and leadership experiences that I gained through KE have been instrumental throughout my entire career and personal life. For these reasons, I am deeply honored to receive this recognition from Kappa Epsilon, and I am hopeful that I am “paying it forward” to others—in similar positive ways—through my current role as a Professor at the Purdue University College of Pharmacy.”

Hudmon has contributed significantly to the field of pharmacy and is nationally renowned as a smoking cessation expert. She has received recognition and awards from the Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Sciences, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the American Pharmacist Association, among many others organizations for her contributions to the field.

Hudmon advocates for the integration of smoking cessation training for healthcare professionals and has received grants from organizations like the National Institute of Health and the National Cancer Institute to continue her research. Dr. Hudmon currently practices as a Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.