After 36 years as a faculty member and 17 years as associate dean Danial E. Baker has been named the J. Roberts and Marcia Fosberg Distinguished Professor in Pharmacy.
“We could not have chosen a more appropriate professor for this honor,” said Pharmacotherapy Chair and R. Keith Campbell Distinguished Professor John White. “Dr. Baker has a long and storied history in the college and his contributions have been invaluable. He is an internationally recognized and much sought-after expert in the world of pharmaceuticals. He is a very respected teacher and his publication record is unparalleled. We are fortunate to have him on our faculty and this accolade is much deserved.”
The J. Roberts and Marcia Fosberg Distinguished Professorship in Pharmacy was established by the Fosbergs to allow support of a senior-level professor in the college. J. Roberts Fosberg is a 1959 pharmacy graduate and was co-founder and CEO of Flex-Foot, Inc., a developer of advanced prosthetic components for lower limb amputees. J. Roberts and Marcia worked together for many years to build Flex-Foot into one of the premier world-class firms in the prosthetic industry.
The previous recipient of this honor was Professor Emeritus R. Keith Campbell (1941-2017), who acted as a mentor to Danial Baker. “To me this is an even greater honor because one of my mentors had the position first,” said Baker.
Baker received the professorship in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the Department of Pharmacotherapy, the Drug Information Center, and the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (CPPS). He has been the director of WSU’s Drug Information Center since 1983 and is a professor of pharmacotherapy. His teaching activities include gastrointestinal disorders, drug information, and evidence-based medicine.
The Drug Information Center is a drug information service and teaching laboratory established by the college in Pullman in 1973 and transferred to the Spokane campus in 1988. The center serves as a reference resource on drug related questions to health care providers and is the primary support unit for Wolters Kluwer Health’s The Formulary Monograph Service (FMS). Through the request line, the center responds to inquiries from pharmacists, physicians, nurses, and other allied health care professionals regarding drug interactions, side effects and other drug-related topics.
As the director of the center, Baker supervises post-graduate Doctor of Pharmacy residents specializing in drug information and pharmacy education.
Previously, Baker served the college as the associate dean for clinical programs from 2002-11 and the associate dean for external professional and continuing education from 2011-19. He stepped down from the continuing education roll recently, when the programming was transferred to the Washington State Pharmacists Association.
Baker has also received numerous awards and honors including the Smith, Kline & French Laboratories Award for Superior Achievement in Clinical Pharmacy, WSPA Pharmacist of the Year, WSU Faculty Excellence Award, Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who in the World, and numerous awards and recognition from the National Ski Patrol.