As a young man, Cory Easton knew he wanted to work in health care and help a lot of people, but he didn’t feel he had the academic chops to be a doctor. So he became more interested in the business of health and, ultimately, in how to ensure people got the medicine they needed at the right time, for the right reasons and at the right price.
“Drug therapies touch every single one of us,” said Easton. “So many people deal with the cost of prescription drugs in this country and yet we do not have academic programs that teach how to best manage pharmaceutical benefits. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry that people just don’t know much about.”
Since establishing a highly successful career in pharmacy benefits management (PBM), a $600 billion industry, whose role it is to manage drug cost and ensure appropriate drug use, Easton has been paying it forward.
In March, Easton and his family made a multiyear, six-figure commitment to support scholarships for students in the School of Public Health through the University's Maryland Promise (MPP) program. It is the largest MPP commitment to date specifically for SPH students. The Easton Family Maryland Promise Scholarship will fully fund the tuition for undergraduate students from Maryland and Washington, D.C. who would otherwise not have the opportunity to go to college.
That passion for helping students grow started at Easton's roots.
Maryland born and raised
Growing up in Maryland, Easton understood deeply the importance of family and also how to work hard, washing pots at The Hebrew Home in Rockville when he was 13, as a way to be close to his grandmother Rose, who lived in the nursing home along with her sister.
“I adored my grandma. She and her sister were immigrants and members of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. She was a hard worker, working in the sweatshops of New York City in order to raise her family, and that legacy had a huge impact on me,” says Easton.
Throughout high school, Easton worked at People’s Drugstore (now CVS) and any odd jobs he could find. When it came time for college, he remained committed to his home state, enrolling at UMD to study therapeutic recreation, a degree training students to use recreational activities to improve the well-being of people with disabilities or health challenges.
Throughout an impressive career, Easton has always returned home to Maryland. And it’s in Maryland where he hopes his investments will see real impact for young people.
“It’s been so important to me to see people from the area where I grew up stay in state, go to our university, get the type of education that I know is achieved here, and go on to create community and enhance networks that improve lives around the world.”
One of my biggest fears is the disparity between the haves and have-nots, and I believe that education plays a big role.
From career success to philanthropy
Upon graduating UMD in 1985, Easton worked at the Washington Hospital Center and was soon recruited to a company called Express Scripts that manages pharmacy benefits for health plans, employers and other organizations. After decades in the industry, Easton co-created Confidio, a leading company in the management of prescription drug benefits. RxBenefits, the largest pharmacy benefits optimizer (PBO) in the US, bought Confidio in 2021 and now the combined company manages over $3 billion in annual drug spending.
Now retired, Easton is focusing his drive on philanthropic ventures through his family office, White Whisker Companies, LLC, named after a beloved family dog.
As part of his service, for three years, Easton has participated in the School of Public Health’s Dean’s Council. He also received the Distinguished Terrapin Award, the highest award bestowed by the school, in 2023.
This March, Easton went big: He and his family made a major commitment to UMD, establishing the Maryland Promise Program scholarship for SPH students. MPP scholarships are unique opportunities offering not only full-tuition but also wrap-around support, including personalized advising, professional development workshops, training in public speaking and networking with donors, to ensure MPP scholars are set up for success at UMD and beyond.
Easton’s multi-year pledge shot SPH to the top of the 2025 Giving Day leaderboard for most of the day, shattering Giving Day records for SPH and ending as the second-most funded unit of the University that day. More importantly, students will benefit for years to come.
“When you are fortunate enough to have the experience that I've had, and the wealth that comes from that, you have a responsibility and obligation to do the right thing,” Easton says of his support to the School of Public Health.
Training the next generation
The Maryland Promise scholarships build on Easton’s growing legacy of service to SPH and its students and community.
While his new donation will enable students across the school to advance their dream careers, Easton continues to ensure that the industry that grew him will also grow – ideally with topnotch SPH graduates to help it along.
As demand for prescription drugs grow and as prices increase, there is more demand from insurance providers, pharmacies and drug manufacturers for people skilled in managing pharmaceutical benefits. Easton, who has worked in the industry for decades, says the sector is in dire need of trained graduates, and wants to change this.
“Pharmacy benefits management is a key component of the healthcare industry. As a school of public health, it is our imperative to prepare professionals in the industry to do their jobs with passion, compassion and an ethical approach. Cory's involvement in our program is helping us meet that mission,” said SPH Dean Dr. Boris Lushniak.
Thanks in part to Easton’s giving, the PBM certificate program launched in Spring 2024. The 8-week curriculum trains students interested in pharmacy benefit management careers and also employees in the health care and insurance company industry who work with them. Easton hopes the program will continue to expand.
“I love Cory's commitment to this program, because it's focused on incorporating real world stuff, not just the theory. Cory brings such enthusiasm and support so that students actually get to experience the industry hands-on,” said Melvin Seale, associate professor in SPH’s Department of Health Policy and Management, who leads the certificate program. Seale noted as an example Easton’s support of a trip that sent the first cohort of PBM certificate students to visit Express Scripts facilities in St. Louis, Missouri, to see firsthand how the industry works.
“I love his commitment to diversifying the PBM field and to building a bridge between education and the real world,” said Seale who has been instrumental in getting the new course off the ground.
Career paths for those with training in pharmacy benefits management are bright, says Easton. Students can go on to work in pharmacy benefit management, or serve as employee benefits analysts, health benefits consultants or pharmacy technicians. “There’s a whole industry waiting for them.”
A life’s work
Easton’s multiple contributions will change the future for SPH students and the school as a whole. And that’s by design: “One of my biggest fears is the disparity between the haves and have-nots, and I believe that education plays a big role. So if I can provide access to education, that goes a long way to narrowing that gap and ultimately accomplishing my life's work.”
On reflection, Easton sees the gifts of his hard work and service as benefits he is lucky to have received and is grateful to share.
“My grandmother would be very proud.”
– by Fid Thompson