Leader in pharmacy practice Linda Garrelts MacLean, class of 1978, will receive the R. Keith Campbell Lifetime Achievement Award from the Washington State University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (CPPS) on October 7. The award will be presented at the college’s Crimson Gala in Spokane attended by alums, faculty, students, and supporters of the college.
Garrelts MacLean retired from the college on July 1, 2021, after a 20-year career as a professor, department chair, vice dean, and ultimately serving as interim dean from 2018 through 2020. She is the first female to hold the position of dean at the college.
Garrelts MacLean mentored hundreds of student pharmacists and helped build a strong professional program at the college. She also served as the advisor for the National Community Pharmacists Association’s business plan competition, helping lead WSU students and the college to national recognition with several first-place and top 10 wins. She is nationally and internationally recognized in the pharmacy community for expanding pharmacist and technician immunization training developed by the college.
Garrelts MacLean, and her husband R. Grant MacLean, class of 1973, are both WSU pharmacists, although they never met while in college. They became acquainted while both worked as pharmacists two blocks away from each other on the South Hill in Spokane. Grant was working for Rosauers supermarket, while Linda was working for Jones Pharmacy. The couple has been married for 39 years and have three daughters. Their careers have always been about community pharmacy, and both were visionary pharmacists. Grant served as Director of Pharmacy for Rosauers, where he was responsible for putting pharmacies into grocery stores in the four northwest states where Rosauers operates in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon. Linda eventually purchased Jones Pharmacy with business partner Rick Jones, and then expanded to own three independent pharmacies until selling in 2000. Grant retired from Rosauers, which was an employee-owned company when it sold in 2000.
Garrelts MacLean said she is very grateful to have had the opportunity for a second career (post-pharmacy ownership) in academia with the WSU CPPS. She especially enjoyed being a part of the profession on the academic side because it was so fulfilling as she watched and mentored so many young pharmacists, scientists, and faculty members to become leaders in the profession.
The MacLean’s recently established a scholarship endowment at the CPPS that mirrors their philosophy on clinical pharmacy, leadership, and innovation in pharmacy practice. The Linda Garrelts MacLean and Grant MacLean Future Leader in Community Pharmacy Scholarship will recognize a fourth-year student pharmacist who has demonstrated a commitment to community pharmacy practice transformation where the pharmacist is responsible for optimizing drug therapies, delivering enhanced patient-centered services, and achieving improved patient health outcomes collaboratively. This future pharmacy leader recognizes that the pharmacist innovator of the future will move practice away from a transactional, point-in-time patient encounter, to a longitudinal and consistent patient-level care process. Funds raised through the Crimson Gala will benefit this new scholarship endowment.
Garrelts MacLean said that while she was on faculty at WSU, she always taught student pharmacists to “work at the top of their license.”
“This scholarship will recognize that the future of pharmacy is about patient care and optimizing drug therapy management in a consistent way with the most accessible health care provider: the pharmacist,” said Garrelts MacLean.
“I’m so pleased to be honored with the R. Keith Campbell award, as he was a true visionary in clinical pharmacy and also a mentor to me,” she added.
The R. Keith Campbell Lifetime Achievement Award was established in 2017 to honor Professor Keith Campbell, class of 1964, who served as a professor at the CPPS for 40 years. Professor Campbell was the first recipient of the award, which was subsequently named for him. The prestigious award recognizes a track record of excellence in pharmacy, patient care, advocacy, research, service and mentoring or teaching. In 2019, William Gaskins, class of 1969, was named as the second recipient of the award. John Oftebro, class of 1965, will also be honored on October 7 along with Garrelts MacLean.
The Crimson Gala takes place as part of the college’s Reunite Pharmacy Reunion Weekend on October 7-8, 2022. Class reunions will take place during the Crimson Gala, with pharmacy building tours on Saturday, October 8 and a viewing party for the WSU vs. USC game later that day at Flatstick Pub. Full details can be found here or by calling 509-368-6675.