Donald E. Francke, American pharmacist and publisher, was born in Athens, Pennsylvania, August 28, 1910, the son of Edward Owen Francke, a pharmacist, and Margaret Carmalita Francke. Earning his bachelor's degree in 1936 and his master's degree in 1948 from the University of Michigan, he also held honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Purdue University and the University of Michigan.
Francke taught at the University of Michigan Schools of Nursing and Pharmacy and directed the University Medical Center Hospital pharmacy from 1944 to 1963. During this time, he worked with educators to improve pharmacy school curricula and the image and education of hospital pharmacists. He published the Michigan Hospital Formulary in 1947 and Mirror to Hospital Pharmacy in 1964. The later publication, a study of hospital pharmacies in the United States, became an important reference tool for hospital pharmacists. From 1967 to 1971, Francke was the chair of the hospital pharmacy department at the University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy and the Director of Pharmacy Services at the Cincinnati General Hospital. Later Francke taught at Howard University as a professor of clinical pharmacy.
Active in the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists (ASHP) and the American Pharmaceutical Association (APhA), Francke advocated establishing ties between American and European and Latin American pharmacists. As President of the APhA during 1951-1952, Francke was the first APhA president to attend meetings of the Federation Internationale Pharmaceutique (FIP). He later became active in FIP as a vice-president from 1958 to 1966 and as president of the Press and Documentation Section from 1967 to 1978. He also attended many international meetings and he was made an honorary member of seven national pharmacy associations.
After editing the American Journal of Hospital Pharmacy from 1944 to 1966, Francke set up Drug Intelligence Publications in 1967, where he edited and published Drug Intelligence, Clinical Pharmacy, and other books for clinical pharmacy.
Concerned with both professional and scientific standards in pharmacy, Francke consulted for the United States Army on pharmacy matters for twenty years. He headed the department of Scientific Services of the ASHP from 1963 to 1967. Returning to Washington in 1971, he served as a special assistant to the Chief Medical Director of the Veteran's Administration. He contributed many articles to pharmacy texts and journals and served as a member or officer of many scientific and professional associations, including the Michigan Board of Pharmacy, the Revision Committee of the United States Pharmacopeia, the American Hospital Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Pharmaceutical Sciences Section.
In recognition of his contributions to pharmacy in the United States, Francke received the H.A.K. Whitney Lecture Award, hospital pharmacy's highest award in 1953 and the Remington Honor Medal, pharmacy's highest award, in 1970. Francke was the first recipient of the Donald E. Francke Medal, established in his honor by the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists in 1973.
Francke's published works include many editorials in the several journals he edited, as well as many articles for journals in the field of pharmacy and hospital pharmacy. Some of his books include:
- Hospital Formulary of Selected Drugs (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1954)
- Mirror to Hospital Pharmacy, 1964
- University of Michigan Hospital Formulary (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1947, 1949)
- co-author: Art of Compounding, Scoville's 8th edition, 1951; 9th edition, 1956
- associate editor: Remington's Practice of Pharmacy (11th edition, 1955)
Francke married Maxine Hafey in 1937. They had five children: Markay Lopez, Stephanie Riley, Michel Herstam, David Francke, and Jon Francke. In 1956, Francke married Gloria Niemeyer, a pharmacist and secretary of the American Association of Hospital Pharmacists. Donald Francke died November 6, 1978.
