Kamala Payne Arango ’05

Kamala Payne Arango is a graduate of Mary Baldwin University, and  earned her B.S. degree in Biochemistry from with double minors in Psychology and Secondary Education.  While at Mary Baldwin, she chaired the Judicial Board, sat on the student Senate, was the number one ceded tennis player and team MVP.  She also led the Mary Baldwin Dance Company.  She is a champion for diversity and was an Ajani graduate and recipient of the Rafiki Award. 

Following graduation, Kamala began her career in Richmond at Wyeth Consumer Healthcare as a Systems and Statistics Scientist. She later transitioned into a role in the Wellness product development team with Pfizer Consumer Healthcare where she held a variety of roles supporting both Emergen-C and Centrum Multivitamins. She is well versed in “enjoy forms” and specializes in confections such as gummies, drink mixes and chewable tablets. After a brief stint as the Director of Start-Up Labs with GlaxoSmithKline, Kamala settled into her current role as Research and Development Director for Emergen-C, North America for Haleon, a new company born from a joint venture with Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline. Kamala loves empowering consumers to take advantage of their everyday health. She is extremely passionate about bringing positive change to the newly founded organization. 

In addition to being a successful scientist, Kamala also holds an M.E. in Systems Engineering with a mini-MBA from The University of Virginia, and a post-baccalaureate certificate in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Florida School of Pharmacy. Kamala is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and has completed numerous projects focused on increasing speed to market and cutting waste. She is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband Adrian, daughter Valentina, and two dogs Pearl and Aslan.