April 29, 2026
Written by Andrew Haines
Choosing Pharmacy
Michael Jackson is originally from a small town in Western Pennsylvania. During high school he had an opportunity to work in a community pharmacy and there decided to become a pharmacist.
While his guidance counselor steered him in another direction, Michael inherited a strong will from his dad and undertook the goal in spite of the rigorous academics receiving help from faculty at his pharmacy school, FAMU where he incidentally also played trombone.
Early Career
After pharmacy school, he moved to Washington, DC to work for a year before heading back south to Tuskegee, AL where he worked at a veterinary school.
From there he was recruited to work in the office of experiential learning at FAMU for three years. It was during this time that he met his wife who lived in Niceville, FL. He relocated to Okaloosa County with his wife and began working at Big B drugs in Fort Walton Beach, FL whose headquarters was in Birmingham, AL.
Because of his involvement in state pharmacy organizations, he learned ways to solve common problems - an attribute that was recognized by his peer pharmacists which ultimately led to the decision of his VP to promote him to a supervisor role of 58 stores.
Michael remained in this role for 9 years during which Big B was bought out by Revco and then CVS.
Clinical Pharmacy
Michael was running for the role of president of FPA when he was approached by FPA leadership about being hired as the CEO of the organization. He never was elected president and instead moved into the CEO role where he remained for the next 27 years until his retirement in 2022.
During his time in FPA he had his hands in pharmacist immunization, collaborative practice agreements, test and treat, technician registration, PDMP, and PBM regulations.
Tuskegee History
Throughout his life, Michael recounted a story of meeting a Tuskegee Airman who flew first lady Eleanor Roosevelt on a plane ride during her visit to the Tuskegee airbase.
He also recounted a humorous story of a visit from a police officer named Drew Lackey who inspected his pharmacy in Tuskegee and told him he was missing a key piece of equipment -- a coffee pot! Incidentally Drew was also the same policeman who had fingerprinted Rosa Parks.
Gratitude
Michael would like to recognize all of the pharmacists he's met over the years stating that they have acted as mentors to him.
Within FSHP he specifically noted Kathy Baldwin (Past President), Henry Lewis (Dean of FAMU), and Tamekia Bennett for sharing about organization management. Michael's favorite part of FSHP is the annual meeting.
He reports that his life currently centers on his family, remarking about his wife (Tuskegee University grad), two sons (both FAMU grads), and two granddaughters.