Died 6 May 1961 | ||
Occupation pharmacist and professor | ||
Zada Mary Cooper (January 31, 1875 – May 6, 1961) was an American pharmacist and educator.
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Biography
Born in Quasqueton, Iowa in 1875, Zada Mary Cooper graduated from the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy in 1897 and became a registered pharmacist on March 9 of that year. Beginning as an assistant, she worked at the College of Pharmacy for 45 years, becoming an instructor in 1905, an assistant professor in 1912, and an associate professor in 1942.
Cooper helped found the Women's Section of the American Pharmacists Association in 1912. She served on its Executive and Membership committees from 1913 to 1916, and was elected its president in 1917.
She founded the pharmacy fraternity Kappa Epsilon on May 13, 1921. She was its first chairman, a grand council member, and edited its journal, The Bond.
Cooper was also a founder of Rho Chi, an international honor society for pharmaceutical sciences. She held several of its offices, including secretary, executive council member, vice president, and served as president from 1938 to 1940.
She was active within the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, and was successful in lobbying the American Association of University Women to accept membership from graduates of pharmacy colleges.
After retiring in 1942, she lived with her brother Dr. J. Clark Cooper in Villisca, Iowa. She died on May 6, 1961.
Honors
Cooper was granted a membership in the national honor society Iota Sigma Pi and was, at the time, one of very few women listed in American Men of Science (it was not renamed American Men and Women of Science until 1971).
The Kappa Epsilon fraternity annually awards Zada M. Cooper Scholarships to five of its active collegiate members.
On April 30, 2016, the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy held the Zada Cooper Leadership Symposium, featuring several speakers on the subject of pharmacy education.