The NOXELL COMPANY, manufacturer of Noxema Skin Cream and Cover Girl cosmetics, was founded in 1920 by pharmacist GEORGE AVERY BUNTING.
His son, G. LLOYD BUNTING SR., and then his grandson, GEORGE L. BUNTING JR. (pictured), led the company in turn until 1990, when it merged with Procter & Gamble. At the time of the merger, Noxell had sales of more than $500 million a year. George Bunting Jr. has chaired the boards of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System, was the first chairman of Johns Hopkins Medicine, and is a longtime university trustee, now trustee emeritus.
At the time of the chair’s creation, it was one of only four endowed chairs in dermatology in the country. The Noxell Professorship provides a focal point and source of fiscal stability for work in patient care, research, and training in the Department of Dermatology. The first faculty member appointed to the chair was Thomas T. Provost, who brought exceptional experience not only in dermatology, but also in internal medicine and in the application of immunology to diseases of the skin. Dr. Provost, then professor and chairman of the Department of Dermatology, strengthened the young department’s emphasis on research by attracting a research-oriented faculty, which is now internationally recognized. Dr. Provost retired in 1996.
The Noxell Professorship is to be held by the chairman of the department.
