1990
1995
1993 Graduated with a
bachelor’s degree in pharmacy
from Xavier University of
Louisiana
1993 Licensed as a
pharmacist in the state of
Louisiana
1997 Graduated with a doctor
of pharmacy degree from
Xavier University of Louisiana
2000
2002 Appointed by Virginia
Gov. Mark Warner to the
Virginia Board of Pharmacy
2005
2005 Hired as associate
professor and assistant dean
at the UC School of Pharmacy
2009 Named dean of the UC
School of Pharmacy
2010
2011 Graduated from
Leadership WV
2013 Appointed to the Martin
Luther King Community Center
After School Program’s
advisory board
2015
2020
2017 Appointed by Gov. Jim
Justice to the WV Medical
Cannabis Advisory Board
2018 Received the WV
Women’s Commission’s 2018
Lena Lowe Yost Educating
Women Award
“I chose to live and work in
West Virginia because I feel like my
contributions make a difference,
are impactful and help leave
whatever environment I am in
better than I found it.”
provide medications, immunizations and
health care information to their patients,”
says Easton. “They don’t realize they
are uniquely positioned to be a helpful
surveillance officer of the community’s
public health, that they may become the
sole interaction for their elderly widow-
er patients and that a simple smile, word
of encouragement or act of compassion
and love can change the trajectory of
someone’s life.”
This commitment to teaching kindness
spills over into other areas of Easton’s
life. She believes community service and
philanthropic contributions are not just
for meeting community needs but are
critical to living.
“I’ve found that in giving back, a
by-product of the effort yields opportu-
nities I didn’t plan on receiving, like learn-
ing new skills, building connections and
becoming more empathetic through learn-
ing someone else’s perspective,” she says.
Supporting organizations like Afri-
can-American Philanthropy in Action,
the Alzheimer’s Association, Highland
Hospital, Kanawha Communities That
Care, the Roark-Sullivan Lifeway Center,
Union Mission and Grace Bible Church,
Easton strives to target her philanthropy
toward organizations that address chal-
lenging issues in society. She volunteers her
time and provides financial contributions
in different ways, such as coordinating
free health screenings, giving health and
wellness presentations, helping with com-
munity clean-up events and participating
in community-focused church outreach.
“I wholeheartedly believe, as Marian
Wright Edelman stated, that ‘Service is
the rent we pay for being. It is the very
purpose of life and not something you do
in your spare time,’” says Easton.
Since moving to the Mountain State,
Easton has been overwhelmed by the
kindness of West Virginians and has truly
embraced it as her new home.
Her move came only two months before
Hurricane Katrina reached landfall, and
she watched the levees break on national
television while talking on the phone with
her family as they evacuated. When seven
feet of water flooded her parents’ home,
they traveled to Charleston to live with
Easton for the next 17 months.
“There was an outpouring of kindness
from my new co-workers at the University
of Charleston, the church community and
total strangers in the grocery store who
learned we were from New Orleans,” she
says. “The genuine human kindness and
love on display by West Virginians still
emotionally overwhelms me and easily
brings tears to my eyes 13 years later.”
Through her leadership at UC and in
the community, Easton aspires to contin-
ue identifying ways to strengthen West
Virginia’s health education, health ser-
vices and communities.
“I chose to live and work in West Vir-
ginia because I feel like my contribu-
tions make a difference, are impactful
and help leave whatever environment I
am in better than I found it,” she says.
“There are a lot of bad comments and
reputations connected with the state and
its citizens, but I can say without hesi-
tation that the people of West Virginia
are the nicest, kindest and most giving
people I’ve ever known.”
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