Sesquicentennial Celebration 150 Years of Pharmacy Excellence

Current Position: Dean, University of Saskatchewant College of Pharmacy and Nutrition

"I think it is exciting to be a pharmaceutical scientist. It requires you to have a very broad knowledge base to be very effective. Pharmaceutical science encompasses a very broad range of disciplines, but you should be able to talk about all the different disciplines and that requires you to have a broad scientific foundation."

Current Position: President, University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy

Award: Hall of Distinguished Alumni - Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient (2012)

"Without question, the most beneficial part of receiving my degree from the UK College of Pharmacy is the network of people, especially the alumni network. Once you're in the UK family, you're in it forever. I think a lot of that networking has been extremely important in my career. Coming out of Kentucky with my degrees from the university and the reputation of the College of Pharmacy really helped me be competitive in my career."

Current Position: Associate Professor, University of Louisville Schools of Medicine and Public Health; Director, University of Louisville Frazier Polypharmacy Program; Assistant Dean, Continuing Medical Education Program

"Pharmacy students face the same thing that every generation faces, which is taking their hard-earned degree and turning it into a meaningful career. When I graduated, there were too many pharmacists and not enough jobs. That is not a great feeling for a person who is just starting out in life. If you continue to increase your skills and be persistent in learning and effort, your career and expertise will continue to grow. There will always be a place for you to use your expertise, especially in health systems, the community, government, industry, policy, regulation, education, scholarship, research and more."

Previous Position: Pharmacy Owner (currently retired)

"My advice for pharmacy students is to always have open eyes. Be open to the opportunities that come by for you. When I started my career, I first went in with tunnel vision, but as I developed and became more open to things, I had a lot of different opportunities available to me. There are so many places you can work and different things you can do. Just keep your eyes and ears open and see what develops."

Previous Position: Emeritus Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy (currently retired)

Award: Paul F. Parker Award Recipient (2010)

Dr. Baldwin was a professor at UNMC during the last 10 years or his career. However, throughout his successful pharmacy career, Dr. Baldwin held many positions at the UNMC College of Pharmacy. Dr. Baldwin was also the vice chair for education at the College of Pharmacy from 2008-2017. He has also held other leadership positions outside the College of Pharmacy, which include serving as president of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy from 2009-2010 and president of the Nebraska Pharmacists Association from 1994-1996. Dr. Baldwin has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Distinguished Teaching Award from the UNMC College of Pharmacy in 2006. In 2012, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) recognized him with the Hugo H. Schaefer Award for his lifetime contributions to APhA and the pharmacy profession. In 2010, the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy gave him the Paul F. Parker Award.

Current Position: Senior Science Advisor to the Director, Office of Clinical Pharmacology, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration

"I would have to say that, at that time, the instruction in pathophysiology was and has been the most influential part of my training. As clinical pharmacology has developed over the years, the solid background in pathophysiology and pharmacokinetics was very helpful to me."

Current Position: Research Fellow, Selpercatinib, Eli Lilly and Company

Current Position: Provost, Executive Vice Chancelor, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Award: Hall of Distinguished Alumni - Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient (2015); Paul F. Parker Award Recipient (2003)

"UKCOP enabled me to see what I never dreamed could be possible in pharmacy. I knew there had to be more than traditional community pharmacy, but I didn’t know what it was until I went to UK. This was the first time I was taught by people doing the main research and publishing the textbooks that I had used. It was so far ahead of its time that I felt like I got to see the future. Harry Kostenbauder and Paul Parker changed my life. Harry was a deep analytical thinker and Paul had big ideas and imagination. UKCOP was so far ahead of its time that just being associated with it opened so many doors. People knew that you were trained well and you could handle things. It was very special."

Current Position: Associate Professor, Pharmacy Practice and Science Department, University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy; Executive Vice President, American Pharmacy Services Corporation

"I believe pharmacy is well positioned to take advantage of current and emerging opportunities for pharmacists in the health care delivery system. With each passing year, ever increasing numbers of more sophisticated medicines are coming to the marketplace, allowing more patients to live longer and healthier lifestyles. This convergence of sophistication and longevity has created unique opportunities for pharmacists to become more involved in their patients' care through enhanced communications and disease state education and monitoring. I believe no better practice site exists for pharmacists to meet these challenges than in the independent pharmacy."

Current Position: Chief Medical Officer, Kala Pharmaceuticals

"I would recommend future scientists be diligent in understanding all of the employment options available, including academia, industry and government. Also, speak to enough people in such positions to understand the day-to-day activities and the opportunities for growth."

Current Position: Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Primary Care, Lexington VA Health Care System

"I think each student faces a different challenge, but my advice to any student is almost always the same. Keep striving to be better every day. Pharmacy is a small world. Network and always pretend you are at a job interview, because you never know who could be connected. I may be a little bit biased, but UKCOP students are the best! Typically, they come in with a great attitude and are ready to learn. They also really enjoy working with our patients."

Previous Position: Marketing, Pharmacy Computer Systems, BDM Information Systems (currently retired)

"If you like being a pharmacist and making people better, then you have found what you need to do. I have been around so many people who are not happy about what they are doing. The more you put in, the more you get back."

Current Position: Regional Dean, Professor, Pharmacy Practice, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy, Abilene Campus

"Being at UK is like being part of a big family and there are so many past graduates. There's such a strong legacy of former UK residents all over the country. No matter where I’ve been, I always seem to run into somebody who has trained at UK and it’s a legacy that is a marker of success. The network of people know how rigorous of a residency program UK has and how we are trained in our residency to be both clinicians, teachers and researchers. They also know that the program provides a lot of leadership opportunities. Graduating from UK residency, people know what they are getting."

Current Position: Professor, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Award: Paul F. Parker Award Recipient (2007); Hall of Distinguished Alumni - Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient (2006)

"What was always the beauty of the training at UKCOP, especially in the residency program, was that every day there were lots of new learning experiences and the opportunity to be put into new situations. You would have to do the best you could with the information that you were given and stay composed."