Creating a Path to Prosperity

Terri Hubbard Powers believes receiving an education is the most important thing someone can do to empower their life and unlock their potential.

Powers, a 1978 VCU School of Pharmacy graduate, grew up in rural Southampton County, Va., in the town of Sedley and knew from age 15 she wanted to work in medicine. She chose pharmacy after seeing how closely the physician she worked for collaborated with the pharmacist in caring for patients, and she chose a career in community pharmacy recognizing this is often where patients with chronic disease slip through the cracks and need help. 

“Education was very important to my parents,” Powers said. “My mom and dad started their business to educate their four children, and because they did, I was able to pursue my career without financial burden.” 

In 2016, Terri and her husband, Tom, created the H.J. and Dot Hubbard Scholarship to honor her parents’ memory. In the past year, she created the Terri Hubbard Powers Path to Prosperity Scholarship to support undergraduate students in the new B.S. in pharmaceutical sciences program. The scholarship first targets students from her hometown.

This scholarship really fulfilled a piece that was missing in what I wanted to accomplish to help my community.

Terri Hubbard Powers, a 1978 graduate of the VCU School of Pharmacy

She learned about the B.S.P.S. program at the School of Pharmacy and recognized that the degree could offer many new career paths for students who might not wish to pursue an advanced degree in pharmacy. 

“As pharmacy evolves, I see the school being a crucial leader in the pharmaceutical industry,” Powers said. “This new degree opens up career paths and helps develop a workforce for the new pharmaceutical manufacturing hub in Petersburg, Virginia, which is within commuting distance for residents from my hometown.”

Powers was especially motivated to give back to her hometown community. For her, this scholarship also completes a deliberate continuum of giving that stretches from supporting children at Early Childhood Western Tidewater to local community college students and undergraduate and graduate students at the School of Pharmacy. 

She envisions a pathway for someone beginning in childhood and extending to an advanced degree. 

“I’ve lived in Richmond for years, but I still call Sedley and Southampton County home. I’m blessed to be able to help,” Powers said. “This scholarship really fulfilled a piece that was missing in what I wanted to accomplish to help my community.” 

If you would like to make a gift to support the School of Pharmacy, please contact Louie Correa, senior director of development, at lacorrea@vcu.edu or 804-828.3016.