NACDS to honor Len DeMino at NACDS Pharmacy & Technology Conference

ALEXANDRIA, Va. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores announced Tuesday that the 2009 NACDS Pharmacy & Technology Conference will provide a forum at which to provide further recognition to Leonard J. DeMino, a chain pharmacy icon whose resume already includes some of the industry’s highest honors and achievements.

The news came as DeMino announced his retirement as senior pharmacy consultant to NACDS, effective June 2009.

“Len has served as a truly amazing pharmacy ambassador every day of his more than five decades in the industry,” said NACDS president and CEO Steve Anderson. “NACDS tells the story of pharmacy as the face of neighborhood health care, and Len has lived that message every day as a patriot of pharmacy practice. He has done so admirably as an industry leader and servant, as a pharmacy educator and lifelong student, and as both an advocate and ombudsman of the profession. It will be fitting to recognize Len among his friends and colleagues at the Pharmacy & Technology Conference," Anderson added. "We have a few fitting and much-deserved surprises planned for him.”

DeMino joined the NACDS staff as VP pharmacy affairs in June 1989, and retired from his staff position in September 1996. He has served as a consultant to the NACDS since October 1996.

Previously, DeMino built a 33-year career at Peoples Drug Stores Inc., serving in positions including staff pharmacist, pharmacist manager, and VP professional services. As a representative of an NACDS member company, DeMino was active in the Association, including service as chairman of the Pharmacy Affairs Committee and as the NACDS representative to the Drug Enforcement Administration Pharmacy Working Committee. He also served as a member of the Maryland Board of Pharmacy and was active in the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.

In 1988, his distinguished career in the industry earned him one of chain pharmacy’s highest honors, NACDS’ Harold W. Pratt Award. This annual honor, established in 1985 by the NACDS board of directors, recognizes individuals whose activities have contributed to the promotion, recognition and improvement of the practice of pharmacy within the chain drug industry.