The Washington State University College of Pharmacy hosted its annual Donor Appreciation and Awards Night on Friday, April 17, on campus at WSU Health Sciences at Spokane to honor and celebrate the individual and corporate supporters who have made significant contributions to the College in the last year.
“Without their generosity we would not be able to offer the wide range of educational opportunities for our students, including travel to professional conferences, our Career Seminar series, the best faculty anywhere, and of course, scholarship support,” said Linda Garrelts MacLean, an associate dean for the college and the event’s emcee.
Gerald Briggs, class of 1968, was recognized as a new benefactor. College of Pharmacy Benefactors those who have reached the cumulative giving milestone of $100,000 or more in their lifetime.
Individual and corporate support has allowed the college to award $321,800 in student scholarships for the 2014-15 academic year. New scholarship endowments established within the last year were recognized, including the announcement that the pharmacy class of 1965 has committed to establishing the “Class of 1965 Scholarship Endowment.” And, the “Schleif Scholarship Endowment” was also established this year by Ron and Carol Schleif, classes of 1976 and 1979 respectively.
Special guest Eric Olson shared his parents’ story, Lonnie and Suellyn Olson, pharmacy alumni from the class of 1970. A memorial fund was started this year to provide scholarships to WSU student pharmacists to honor the memory of Suellyn after she passed away.
In additional support to student scholarships, Walgreens representative Nick Bruck (who is also a WSU pharmacy alumni) had to honor of presenting the dean with a check for $10,000 from the Walgreen Company at the event.
Corporate partners at the Spokane Teacher’s Credit Union, Albertsons, RiteAid, and QFC were recognized, along with the Washington State Pharmacy Foundation and the alumni volunteers who make up the WSU Pharmacy Alumni Community’s CougaRx Nation Board.
Student representatives from each class presented awards to the College of Pharmacy faculty members voted by the students as Teachers of the Year for the 2014-15 academic year. The pharmacy leadership fraternity Phi Lambda Sigma recognized Brian Gates, an associate dean for the college, as an honorary member for his outstanding service and dedication to helping student pharmacists develop their leadership skills.
Student volunteers from the Professional Pharmacy Student Organization (PPSO) and Kappa Psi coordinated a silent auction at the event, raising money to benefit student organizations.
[April 20, 2015] Lori J. Maricle