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Gilbert J. Burckart, a UK College of Pharmacy alumnus and R#22 in the UK HealthCare Pharmacy Residency program, has been named the 2016 recipient of the Paul F. Parker Award. Dr. Burckart will receive his honor at the 2016 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Paul F. Parker Award is given annually to a past resident of the University of Kentucky Pharmacy Residency Program or to an individual intimately associated with the success of the program. This award recognizes an individual who has displayed sustained contribution to the profession in practice, teaching or research; a commitment to high ideals and excellence in their chosen field; leadership and innovation; and a passion to encourage the personal and professional growth of others.

Dr. Burckart currently serves as Associate Director for Pediatrics, Office of Clinical Pharmacology, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  Prior to joining the FDA, Dr. Burckart served on the faculties of the State University of New York at Buffalo, the University of Tennessee, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Southern California.

Dr. Burckart earned a BS in Pharmacy from the University of Pittsburgh in 1972 and a PharmD from the University of Kentucky in 1975.  He then completed his pediatric residency, spending time at both the UK Medical Center in Lexington and Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville. 

“I am honored to receive the Paul Parker Award,” says Dr. Burckart.  “Paul changed the whole face of pharmacy.  He didn’t do that single-handedly, but then no one really accomplishes a major task by themselves.  Cooperation and collaboration are critically important. Paul’s lesson for me was that no obstacle is too great.”

The Parker Luncheon will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, December 6 at Mandalay Bay. To register for the luncheon, click here.

We wish to remember and honor those who inhabited this Commonwealth before the arrival of the Europeans. Briefly occupying these lands were the Osage, Wyndott tribe, and Miami peoples. The Adena and Hopewell peoples, who are recognized by the naming of the time period in which they resided here, were here more permanently. Some of their mounds remain in the Lexington area, including at UK’s Adena Park.

In more recent years, the Cherokee occupied southeast Kentucky, the Yuchi southwest Kentucky, the Chickasaw extreme western Kentucky and the Shawnee central Kentucky including what is now the city of Lexington. The Shawnee left when colonization pushed through the Appalachian Mountains. Lower Shawnee Town ceremonial grounds are still visible in Greenup County.

We honor the first inhabitants who were here, respect their culture, and acknowledge the presence of their descendants who are here today in all walks of life including fellow pharmacists and healthcare professionals.