WesternU president honored by Boy Scouts

Dr. Philip Pumerantz, founding president of Western University of Health Sciences, received the 2010 Distinguished Educator Award from the San Gabriel Council Boy Scouts of America on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2010 at the Sheraton Fairplex in Pomona, CA.

Dr. Pumerantz, who opened the doors to the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific – later renamed Western University of Health Sciences – in 1977, was recognized not only for providing the vision for what WesternU has become, but for turning that vision into reality by building a campus with nine colleges and multiple health-professions programs. “Education at the highest levels of academic and youth development is what Dr. Pumerantz, Western University of Health Sciences and the San Gabriel Valley Council deliver,” read the Boy Scouts’ decision to honor Dr. Pumerantz.

“Dr. Pumerantz, through his numerous accomplishments and new breakthrough endeavors, certainly exemplifies the American entrepreneurial spirit within the field of education."

More than 150 community, Boy Scouts and WesternU leaders attended the luncheon honoring Dr. Pumerantz, which was emceed by Dr. J. Michael Ortiz, president of California Polytechnic University, Pomona. Mayor Elliot Rothman of Pomona presented Dr. Pumerantz with a City Council proclamation establishing Sept. 23, 2010 as “Dr. Philip Pumerantz Day,” and Rosanne Bader, a trustee of the Mt. San Antonio College board, presented a board certificate to WesternU’s president.

Also in attendance were Dr. Pumerantz’s wife, Harriet, and two of his three children.