Friend of Pharmacy 2004: Sarah "Sally" Rushmore Byrn

Sarah "Sally" Rushmore Byrn

BS, Nursing, DePauw University

President and Chief Executive Officer, SSCI Inc., West Lafayette, Indiana

Sally Byrn grew up in the Pocono Mountains where her father was a small-town family physician. Changing to industrial medicine, he joined AT&T and moved his family around as Sally went through junior and senior high schools in Ohio; West Virginia; New York; and finally, Summit, New Jersey, where she graduated from high school. Her father then became medical director of Indiana Bell, and the family moved to Indiana.

Sally received a BS in Nursing degree from DePauw University, where she met her husband, Steve. After graduation they were married and lived in Champaign, Illinois, while Steve finished his PhD. They then moved to Los Angeles for his post-doctoral work at UCLA. When they received word of an offer from the Purdue University School of Pharmacy in 1972, Sally began singing "Back Home Again in Indiana" to their 14-month old as she packed the apartment to move.

Arriving in West Lafayette in 1972 to find no public health nursing jobs available, Sally began working with Ida Casey of the Purdue School of Nursing to create the Health Referral Center. At about the same time, Sally helped found what became the St. John's Episcopal Church Food Pantry. Working with the American Lung Association, she also helped start the Family Asthma Program in Tippecanoe County. Sally has served on the Altar Guild, Vestry, and Endowment committees at St. John's. She also has been actively involved and/or directed Christian education there for more than 20 years.

Using the organization and negotiation skills she gained while serving as a nurse and raising eight children, Sally has guided SSCI, Inc. from a company with two employees in 1993 to a company with 85 employees today. SSCI, Inc. is a research and information company providing highly valued knowledge and information to the pharmaceutical industry, with particular strengths in addressing regulatory issues. SSCI, Inc. has assisted several companies in speeding important drugs to market by solving difficult solid-state chemistry problems. The company has won several Indiana Growth 100 awards and twice has been listed among the Inc. 500 fastest growing, privately held companies.

Sally and Steve are strong supporters of minority programs and research in the School of Pharmacy. Sally also has worked closely with the Purdue Research Foundation in an effort to increase economic development in the Purdue Research Park. She is a tireless worker who has blazed new trails, always determined to accomplish the next important thing.