Alumni Resources
Ralph D. Bienfang Endowment in the College of Pharmacy
September, 1930, was a momentous date for The University of
Oklahoma School of Pharmacy. It was the day that one of the great
teachers of pharmacy, Dr. Ralph David Bienfang, joined the faculty. A
cornerstone of the faculty for the next forty-five years, Dr. Bienfang
served the college longer than any other faculty member. He was one of
the most popular and respected members of the faculty of The University
of Oklahoma, and he was known as an innovative and inspiring teacher.
The highest faculty honor given by the university is to be named a
David Ross Boyd Professor, an honor earned by Dr. Ralph David Bienfang
in 1965.
Dr. Bienfang attended The University of Colorado for one year, then received the B.S. (1926), M.S. (1927), and Ph.D. (1929) degrees from The University of Wisconsin. He taught one year, 1929, at the Connecticut College of Pharmacy before coming to Oklahoma. Dr. Bienfang was active in many pharmacy student organizations as either a member or mentor. Along with Dean D.B.R. Johnson, Dr. Bienfang helped found the all-pharmacy student organization OUPhA in 1934.
In 1970, Dr. Bienfang was the founder and editor of a news sheet for the College of Pharmacy, the "OU Take." Dr. Bienfang's farewell to his students on the occasion of his retirement on March 28, 1975, read as follows:
as I modestly bow,
Grand cake of the age
iced sweetly with now"
Dr. Bienfang died suddenly in 1975, only eight months after retiring. In his memory, the Ralph D. Bienfang Memorial Scholarship was established by the College and supported by an endowment established by Dr. Bienfang's widow, Bess Bienfang; Jane Bienfang Harlow, Dr. Bienfang's daughter and Jane's husband, James Harlow, Jr. The college also created the Ralph D. Bienfang Memorial Outstanding Pharmacy Practitioner Award in Dr. Bienfang's honor, one of the highest honors for pharmacy practitioners in Oklahoma.
The following information about Professor Bienfang was published in Who's Who in America sometime after 1965:
| Name: | Ralph David Bienfang |
| Position: | Educator |
| Born: | Jefferson, Wisconsin., January 15, 1905 |
| Parents: | John Matthew and Nellie (Arnold) Bienfang |
| Education: | University of Colorado, student 1922-1923 University of Wisconsin,
B.S., 1926 University of Wisconsin, M.S., 1927 University of Wisconsin, Ph.D., 1929 |
| Spouse: | Bess Irene Marriott, married June 27, 1934 |
| Children: | Jane Marriott Bienfang (Mrs. James G. Harlow, Jr.) |
| Career: | Professor, Connecticut College of Pharmacy, 1929-1930 Assistant Professor of Pharmacognosy, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, 1930-1937 Associate Professor, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, 1937-1941 Professor, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, 1941-1942 Professor of Pharmacy, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, 1942-1965 David Ross Boyd Professor, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, 1965 |
| Memberships: | American Pharmacists Association Wisconsin Historical Society Sociedade de Farmacia e Quimica de Sao Paulo (honorary) Sociedade de Farmacia de Rio de Janeiro (honorary) Sigma Xi Rho Chi Phi Sigma Kappa Psi Alpha Sigma Phi Lutheran Lion |
| Other Activities: | Writer of Poetry Editor: O.U. Take |
| Home: | 1114 E. Louisiana St. Norman, OK 73069 |
| Quote: | "The omphalos of my practice as a professor is this: With purpose and also hope, I set about to pervade the collective and solitary id and psyche with the delicacy of a butterfly, and once there, I continue to flutter and flap about without letup." |