Eli Lilly and C.R. Sublett Centennial Fellowship in Pharmacy

Dec 12, 2022 | Faculty Support

Bobbie Rainey Sublett and Coulter R. Sublett both attended the business school at The University of Texas at Austin during the early 1930s. Coulter graduated in 1933, but Bobbie had to drop out during the Depression after her junior year in 1932.

The Subletts

Bobbie and Coulter were both in the same business law class in 1932. Four years later, in 1936, they were both working in Tyler when they ran into each other at the Post Office. They were married for 58 years.

Coulter started working for Eli Lilly & Co. in 1935 and retired 39 years later. He served in World War II for five years, the last year of which he was head of forward ordinance for General Patton, with 17,000 men reporting to Coulter, then just 33. In 1946, Coulter returned to his same territory in Tyler, which Eli Lilly had held for him. He retired from the Army as a brigadier general, after continuing to serve as a reserve officer until age 60, and was Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics at the Pentagon.

Solo picture of Mrs. Bobbie Rainy Sublett in her elderly years wearing pink and smiling

Mrs. Bobbie Rainey Sublett

Solo image of Mr. Coulter R. Sublett in his elderly years wearing a suit and smiling

     Mr. Coulter R. Sublett

As Coulter rose through the ranks at Eli Lilly, the couple moved 13 times all over the United States. In Indianapolis, where the company headquarters were, he had responsibility for sales for half of the country for a decade before becoming head of relations with all corporate partners in the United States. It was there that he retired.

The Subletts loved The University of Texas, and after engaging with the College of Pharmacy and then-Dean Jim Doluisio, in 1982 they partnered with Eli Lilly to create the Eli Lilly and C.R. Sublett Centennial Fellowship in Pharmacy to support UT pharmacy faculty.

Loyal throughout their lives, they wanted to ensure that the quality of The University would continue to grow. UT Austin changed their lives, and they wanted it to continue to change the lives of others.

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