The Washington State University College of Pharmacy celebrated with alumni and donors at its annual spring recognition event, Friday, April 22, on the WSU Health Sciences campus in Spokane, Washington.
The event, which was re-named Celebrating Generosity this year, is hosted by the college every spring to celebrate and say “thank you” to its alumni and donors who have made significant contributions to the college in the past year, and to present the college’s annual awards.
Individual and corporate support has allowed the college to award $325,000 in student scholarships for the 2015-16 academic year.
New scholarships and endowment funds established within the last year were recognized including the Dean’s Endowed Professorship, which is an endowment fund to advance the practice of pharmacy and help position WSU for the future. Contributions to this fund will be used to reinforce and elevate the WSU College of Pharmacy as a leader in collaborative research and scholarship, and educator of outstanding health care professionals and scientists.
Also established this past year was the Class of 1965 Endowed Scholarship in Pharmacy, which will provide two new scholarships every year to support students in the Doctor of Pharmacy program.
Gerald Danquist, class of 1965, was recognized for his contributions to name the Danquist Innovation Conference Room in the Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences Building. Along with being a contributor to the Class of 1965 Scholarship in Pharmacy, Danquist was also named the college’s Alumnus of the Year.
Private support to the WSU College of Pharmacy provides for more than just scholarships. Student travel grants, the alumni-student mentor program, and the Preparing for Your Career in Pharmacy seminar series are examples of how the WSU College of Pharmacy brings alumni and community partners together to prepare pharmacists to practice at the top of their education and to connect student pharmacists with current pharmacy leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs from across the country.
Awards presented during the evening included:
- Distinguished Service Award: Gerald G. Briggs, class of 1968
- Alumnus of the Year: Gerald A. Danquist, class of 1965
- Phi Lambda Sigma honorary member: Joshua Neumiller, Pharm.D.
WSU Pharmacy Students of the Year: voted on by WSU pharmacy faculty
- Tory Knebel, class of 2019
- Haleigh Miller, class of 2018
- Courtney Mayo, class of 2017
WSU Pharmacy Teachers of the Year: voted on by each Doctor of Pharmacy class
- PY1 – Connie Remsberg, Ph.D., Pharm.D.
- PY2 – Kim McKeirnan, Pharm.D.
- PY3 – Mark Garrison, Pharm.D.
- PY4 – Megan Willson, Pharm.D.
- Graduate program: Kathryn Meier, Ph.D.
- Teaching Assistant: Mahamudul Haque/Shannon Kozlovich
National awards presented during the event included:
- U.S. Public Health Service “Excellence in Public Health” Pharmacy Award: Juliet Nguyen, class of 2018
- National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Student of the Year: Derek Matlock, class of 2017
The event was made possible by support from Walgreens. Corporate partners at the Spokane Teacher’s Credit Union, Albertsons-Safeway, Fred Meyer, Rosauers, and QFC were recognized along with community partners at the Washington State Pharmacy Foundation, Bert Porter, Danial and Susan Baker, the Ewell Family, John Oftebro, and the alumni volunteers who make up the WSU pharmacy alumni community’s CougaRx Nation board.
[April 27, 2016] By: Lori J. Maricle