I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. My favorite holiday... the perfect moment in our busy lives to pause and express gratitude for the privileges we all enjoy both in our personal and professional lives. Dr. Robert Emmons at UC-Davis has written a book on the beneficial impact of gratitude on health and happiness. It's not about living in a make-believe world of no problems or issues, but the simple realization that (a) we are all dependent on each other and (b) many needs and desires are, in fact, being regularly and substantively met. Having this positive, life-affirming perspective and the capacity to express gratitude and say "thank you" is good for our health! My thanks to all of you for making this such an incredible place to be dean.
The "save the date" items at the moment include:
- Our alumni gathering at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) conference in Las Vegas is scheduled for Sunday, December 2 from 6:00-9:00pm in the Reno Room at Harrah's...please note the change of venue AGAIN. Art Shuna (PPD/VA) will be honored with the national ASHP Residency Preceptor of the Year award at a reception on Saturday, December 1...check the program for location.
- A Faculty/Staff meeting will be held on Thursday, December 6 at 1:00 in room 2002. Formal decision-making (voting) falls under the responsibility of the faculty (tenure, CHS, and clinical). However, all classified and academic staff are invited to attend and participate...check with division chairs and unit supervisors to ensure coverage of essential functions.
- The next Executive Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 11 at 12:00 in room 1128. 12 members and 9 advisory members must be present to constitute a quorum for regular business. In addition, the ExecComm will be considering a promotion to full professor so 11 members at the full professor rank must be present.
- Winter graduation will be held at 10:00 AM on Sunday, December 16 at the Kohl Center. Jeanine Mount (SAS/Academic Affairs) will be representing the SOP in my absence, and Dave Kreling (SAS) will be participating as our marshall. Thanks to both!
- The 125th anniversary kick-off open house will be held on Wednesday, January 23 in the Commons from 4:00-6:30pm.
As mentioned last month, the planning for events, activities, publications, etc., etc. for our 125th anniversary celebrations is chugging furiously along. Thanks to the "Dream Team" members who are doing the bulk of the work... Pam French (Alumni Affairs), Diane Stojanovich (Communications), Linda Halsey (Development), and Madelyn Alt (Dean's Office) who is finding ways to do all kinds of unusual tasks that have popped up. Thanks again to Greg Higby and his staff at the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy (AIHP) for making sure we are historically correct, to Tom O'Connor (Business Office), and to the chairs and members of the planning groups working on the major events.
And remember... Diane has created logos and logo items for various uses throughout the year. If you have any questions about using the logos, moving them around, resizing them, etc., don't hesitate to contact Diane. Division and unit offices will also receive a supply of generic SOP stationery (can be personalized to the division/unit and/or individual level), envelopes, mailing labels, name tags, blank note cards, etc. with the 125th logo that everyone is encouraged to use at every opportunity throughout the year. The 125th anniversary website is live at http://www.pharmacy.wisc.edu/125th/ and will be updated on an on-going basis throughout the year with events and information. For example... Congrats to Chad Vezina, a postdoc in the Peterson group (PharmSci). Chad submitted the winning entry for the new ice cream flavor that Babcock Hall will create in honor of our anniversary... Chocolate ApotheCherry...chocolate ice cream with a touch of rum flavoring, chunks of chocolate and dried cherries. Yum! Chad requested a faculty position here at the School as a prize...the Rocky Road Professorship...but we settled on a 3-gallon container of his ice cream as the winning prize. Thanks, Chad! First tasting... January 23 kick-off reception.
To other news... Jeremy Altschafl started his position with the School on November 5 in the Student and Academic Affairs (SAA) Office, taking over responsibility for our admissions activities, coupled with advising and other miscellaneous duties. You'll find him in room 1206. On December 3, Danuta Pyzalska will join the Research Administration Office (room 1122) in a newly configured position responsible for post-award activities and other financial aspects of grants and gifts. Please stop by and say hello to our new staff! And thanks to everyone who served on the search committees for these positions or otherwise participated in the process.
We're also very pleased to welcome two new faculty members in PharmSci (Drug Action core). Please join me in warmly welcoming Drs. Lara Collier (room 4117) and Paul Marker (room 4111), starting their positions with us next week.
Many congratulations are in order... To John Kao (PharmSci) for being elected as a fellow with the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), placing him in the top 2% of the medical and biological engineering community. To Darin Furgeson (PharmSci) for receiving the 2007 PhRMA Research Starter Grant in Pharmaceutics, which was (or should have been) recognized at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) in San Diego. Sadly, the written program and announcement got seriously messed up, but the fabulous award...only one given every year...remains.To Eva Vivian (PPD) for receiving an educational travel fellowship from the UW Center for Global Health (CGH) to develop an interdisciplinary, culturally-relevant diabetes prevention education program for Ugandan health care providers and citizens, complementing the high level of CGH activity in Uganda. To Ben Shen (PharmSci) and colleagues at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute for recognition of their recent work modifying the enediyne family of potent bioactive compounds to enhance their anticancer activity. The work is highlighted in a news brief, "Enediynes Taught to Act Better" in the November 5, 2007 edition of Chemical & Engineering News. The full paper explaining the findings was published in then prestigious journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. To Stephanie Cape (Chemistry student with Li group, PharmSci) for defending her PhD dissertation. And to Dave Mott (SAS) for leading the SOP's participation in a collaborative project with the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin (PSW) called the Wisconsin Pharmacy Quality Collaborative (WPQC), a first-of-its kind initiative to ¡°standardize, formalize, and recognize (with payment) the important role of the pharmacist in the medication use process." This is a very important project in its own right that will also allow the further construction of practice-based research networks around the state. Others involved (that I'm aware of) include Beth Martin (PPD), Mike Pitterle (PPD/IIT), and Denise Walbrandt Pigarelli (PPD). The project recently received significant funding from the Community Pharmacy Foundation. Thanks to Curt Johnson (PPD emeritus) for his role as main author of the grant application. There is also a wonderful history of the School's Pharmaceutical Experiment Station..."Inherit the Weeds"...in the Winter 2007 edition of On Wisconsin that just came out. Edward Kremers and the medical plant garden of the past is woven beautifully together with the cutting-edge natural product research of the present and future of Jon Thorson (PharmSci) coupled with the drug development mission of the new Lenor Zeeh Pharmaceutical Experiment Station. Jon is quoted extensively, as is Glenn Sonnedecker (SAS emeritus and former AIHP director), Ken Connors (dean and PharmSci emeritus), Lynn Van Campen (first director of new ZPES), and Mark Sacchetti (current ZPES scientific director). See http://www.uwalumni.com/home/onwisconsin/archives/winter2007/pharming.aspx.
The 2007 Busse Lectures were a special treat this year in that they featured one of our world renown alums, Dr. Ronald Borchardt, the Summerfield Distinguished Professor from the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy. Ron is one of the members of the famed Class of '67 that has produced a mind-boggling number and array of national leaders in both the practice and the science of pharmacy. It was wonderful hosting Ron and also spending time with Louis Busse (PharmSci emeritus) and his son. Louis celebrated his 96th birthday last week, and we're so pleased to have this mechanism to honor him and host absolutely first-rate scientists and educators. Thanks to Joni Mitchell and Ken Niemeyer (PharmSci), Linda Frei (Graduate Program Office), and Diane Stojanovich (Communications) for working together on the arrangements and to Mel de Villiers (PharmSci) who served as the faculty host during Ron's visit.
The 2007 Pharmacy Alumni Association (PAA) Reunion Weekend was an incredible success! The weekend kicked off with an all day meeting with the School's Board of Visitors (BOV). The mission of this group of 22 Badger pharmacy scientists, practitioners, and educators is to provide advice and input on a wide-ranging array of issues and topics of interest to the School, such as long-range planning, strategic visioning, physical facilities, and fund raising. They represent an incredible collection of wisdom and experience and bring a valuable real-world perspective to many things we're dealing with at the SOP. The evening Dean's Reception drew a record attendance and included the award of four citations of merit to alums Mike Dow, John Merianos, Mike Schwartz, and our own Judy Thompson (PharmSci/ PPD emerita). The PAA Alumni of the Year Award was presented to Cindy Benning. All members of the Dean's Club level of giving ($500 in a calendar year) were invited as my guests to give special recognition to their generosity and support. Thanks to the PAA Executive Committee, especially President Phil Berce and Secretary Susan Kleppin for all their work, and to all the faculty and staff for attending and reconnecting with our alums. Saturday began with a tailgating event at Union South that also drew a record number of attendees. A highlight of the tailgate is a raffle for a variety of autographed Badger athletic items, clothing and other logo items, and tickets. The raffle raised almost $1,800 for the PAA scholarship fund, over $500 more than last year. More than 325 tickets were sold to the Wisconsin-Michigan football game, and the Badgers did their part by beating up on the Wolverines. Highlights were many, and included attendance by alums Lenor Zeeh (Class of '36) and Joe Swintosky (Class of '42 and former faculty member). Thanks to Pam French (Alumni Relations) for making all the arrangements with valuable assistance in all sorts of ways from Madelyn Alt (Dean's Office), Diane Stojanovich (Communications), Linda Halsey (Development), and Ken Niemeyer (PharmSci). And to the Pharm.D. student volunteers who led tours, tended bar, and pitched in wherever Pam needed them. Fabulous!
The Instructional and Informational Technology (IIT) group will be launching a new website for the SOP during the semester break. The new site, which will feature an updated appearance and an improved navigation system, is designed to enhance the ability of SOP personnel, alumni, prospective students and faculty, and the general public to get to know us and to locate the information they need. You are invited to a tour of the new site at IIT's Website Preview Event from 1-3pm on December 10 in the computer lab just off the Commons.
A reminder about the new effort certification system intended to provide complete and accurate accountability to funding agencies. An audit by NSF is coming to UW-Madison soon, and multi-million dollar fines have been imposed on universities not doing this properly. Sharon Vetter (Research Administration) is the "effort coordinator" for the School and is holding training sessions, providing information, and generally helping everyone with the new system. Don't hesitate to contact her with questions.
Faculty searches continue in PharmSci (both Drug Delivery and Drug Discovery). My continuing thanks to chairs and members of the search committees and to everyone who works so hard every step of the way to bring about a successful faculty or staff recruitment.
We had a terrific turn-out at the UW SOP alumni breakfast at the AAPS meeting in San Diego. Faculty and staff (active, semi-retired, retired) Mel de Villiers, Ed Elder, Darin Furgeson, Glen Kwon, Lynn Van Campen, and Mel Weinswig and several graduate students attended. Alum Keith Guillory provided a gift to support the breakfast, as he generously does every year. Alums Romaine and Arlene Ellingson were selected from 2007 Dean's Club members to join me in the Chancellor's Box at the November 10 Badger game vs. Michigan. Alum Dave Sanders and his son Jim attended as well. I had the pleasure of having brunch with alum, former employee and former BOV chair, Char Smith. The family and friends of alum Tom Kies established an endowed scholarship to honor him on his 70th birthday. His daughter, Susie Kies Bazzell, is also an alumni of the School and initiated the idea. Susie will also host our first 125th anniversary reception in Tucson in late January. Linda Halsey (Development) and I took our annual jaunt to New York City to visit alums Jim Muren and Leon Lachman. Jim provided continuing support to the Building Community Fund, as he has done for several years, without which we could not hold a variety of social events for School faculty, staff, and students. Leon added substantially to his named fund that is currently supporting travel to a scientific meeting for a PharmSci graduate student. The long-range plan is to grow that fund into a full graduate fellowship.
No First of the Month on January 1. I wish everyone peace for the holidays and a happy and healthy new year. Jeanette