Distinguished Alumni Award

Distinguished Alumni Award

Every year, the UW School of Pharmacy and the Pharmacy Alumni Association (PAA) recognize two alumni for their outstanding work and leadership. Nominations come from the community and awardees are selected by the Pharmacy Alumni Association.  These outstanding alumni are celebrated at the annual Dean’s Recognition Reception held in May.

Please check our events page for more details.

Call for Nominations

Nominations for the next Distinguished Alumni Award recipients are open until January 7, 2019 at 11:59 p.m.

Click to Nominate

The call for nominations is open! Please click to nominate alumni for their outstanding work and leadership. We will announce and celebrate our distinguished alums at the Deans Recognition Reception in May.

For more details about the event please refer to our events calendar.

Distinguished Alumni

In 1973, the UW School of Pharmacy and the Pharmacy Alumni Association (PAA) began giving the Distinguished Alumnus/a in Pharmacy Practice Award annually to individuals who demonstrate outstanding service to the School, the profession of pharmacy and to the community.

In 1995, the Distinguished Alumnus/a in Pharmaceutical Science and Research Award was also established to honor alumni from the School’s graduate programs who have excelled in their scientific careers.

The following individuals are the recipients of this prestigious annual PAA award. Their accomplishments and the impact they have had in their respective fields cannot be overstated.

For Deanna Kroetz, ’90, her interest in a career in pharmaceutical science began when she was in pharmacy school in Ohio. She worked on a faculty research project and found she loved thinking about scientific problems, how to analyze them, and how to test hypotheses. Her advisor, Dick Reuning, suggested she apply for graduate school here at UWSOP. She looked at other schools also but in the end loved the friendly, collaborative environment that was and is part of our culture—plus the opportunity to work with Bill Trager, Rene Levy, and Tom Baillie.

“Science is bigger than the small problem you are working on at any given time. You need to interact with people in different disciplines to find what is important in your work. Science is collaborative.”

In Pharmaceutics, Deanna was energized by the work and to her faculty and peers. “I loved the camaraderie of the two basic science departments,” she recalled. Deanna worked in Rene’s lab: “To this day, I know I can call him in a heart beat for anything.” That collegiality led to strong collaborations in the lab and the traditional science Friday gatherings at the College Inn Pub. While at UW, Deanna began with drug-drug interactions and became interested in pharmacogenetics—a very new field in the late 1980s. Encouraged by former Dean Sid Nelson, she did a post doc at NIH. She then went to UCSF as a faculty member in 1993.

Deanna’s research is still related to drug-drug interactions, specifically the variability of drug response and pharmacogenetics. By using genetics to understand drug toxicity, she hopes to improve drug therapy for cancer chemotherapy. Her main advice to current students? “Be open minded. I like to challenge my students once a week to go to a lecture in a different area of research because you never know how it will influence your work.”

Timothy W. Lynch, ’97 ’98, fell into a career in pharmacy by accident. When he was getting out of the Navy after six years in the submarine force, he looked at career options, deciding initially to look at accounting and automobile design. His father-in-law had a hardware store located next to a pharmacy—and he suggested to Tim that, with his interest in science and math, he consider pharmacy. Tim soon realized that it was the right match. He chose the UW for our reputation as a premier educational institution: “I knew I had to attend the UWSOP to get the best professional education, “ he shared. His favorite moments here included time spent with his fellow students, many of whom became best friends. “I look back at the members of my class and see that they have become the leaders in our profession,” he said. “I continue to be inspired by all of them.”

“Receiving this award was a milestone personally and professionally. I remain very humbled by the award and extremely grateful for the recognition from my peers. ”

Some years after graduation, he hired Jenny Arnold as an intern at St. Francis Hospital. She encouraged him to get involved in the Washington State Pharmacy Association (WSPA) and national pharmacy associations. Tim was part of the final BS Pharm class here at the UWSOP and took advantage of a chance to do additional work to earn his PharmD degree. He decided to apply for a residency, which ultimately led to a career in health system pharmacy.

Tim became the first pharmacist in his family but his daughters continue the Husky tradition. His oldest is a junior in the UW communication program and his middle daughter is a freshman and plans to attend UWSOP.

His advice to current students? “Set your goals beyond where you ever think you could succeed. With persistence, you will surpass what you thought you were capable of. Never say no to an opportunity to learn something new or grow your skills—it may open doors you never thought possible. Get involved and stay involved. There are so many demands for your time, but by connecting with others inside and outside the profession, you find new opportunities and ways to expand your influence.”