The Distillate Summer 2023

building the future

Grand Opening Breaking News

Fred E. Lesh, Jr. ’71 announced that a special fundraising effort by the Classes of 1968-1972 had fully endowed the Dr. William H. Golod Endowed Scholarship Fund! The classes held a special gathering after the program and Dr. Golod presented Golden Grad medallions to Jill Davis, the families of Rondall Honeycutt ’71 and Dennis Sullivan ’71 and then Linda Finley Reid ’72 spoke in honor of the late Stevie Efstration Klein ’72

COLLEGE LANDS FIRST ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIP

Dean Hall announced the college’s first endowed professorship! Worldrenowned medicinal chemist Patrick Woster was named to the Vincent T. Peng M.D., Pharmaceutical Chemistry Professorship. Dr. Peng emigrated to the United States from Taiwan in 1960 with no connections and $15 in his pocket. After attending college, he went to earn two degrees from MUSC (pharmacy and medicine) and have a very successful career; he has been a philanthropic leader at MUSC for many years.

Dr. Woster the MUSC College of Pharmacy SmartState® Chair in Drug Discovery, professor and chair of the Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences, was inducted into the Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame in 2019. He joined the fewer than 100 elite scientists previously honored with Hall of Fame membership for their significant contributions to the field of medicinal chemistry.

Mark Your Calendar

On June 28, 2023, Dean Emeritus William H. Golod will celebrate his 90th birthday! Dr. Golod’s 28 years as dean of the MUSC College of Pharmacy remain a vivid backdrop for proud memories, funny stories, and lasting relationships. Alumni who wish to send an email congratulations can send them to: GolodWH@MUSC.edu

On October 5, 2023, the Class of 1973 celebrates its Golden Graduates Reunion! Reconnect with friends, strengthen your personal connections and toast your 50th anniversary as graduates. Celebrate your legacy with a cocktail hour reception followed by dinner and dancing at the Charleston Marriott at 170 Lockwood Blvd.

The Many Paths of a Pharmacist

With the opening of the new building in April, the MUSC College of Pharmacy is positioned to attract students who are seeking a highly respected Pharm.D. degree offered in an innovative, bright, and high-tech educational facility.

MUSC College of Pharmacy’s mission is to prepare students for successful careers, and consistently, a degree from MUSC ensures that more than 95 percent of its graduates are employed within six months. Here are a few snapshots of some recent gradate success:

Community Pharmacy Publix Pharmacy recruited Nichole Waters ‘23 to engage their growing population of Spanish-speaking patients while Bradley Piaskowski ’23 accepted an offer from Costco Pharmacy. Marly Young ’21 worked as a pharmacy technician at Stucky Pharmacy before she was accepted into MUSC’s College of Pharmacy. Today, she is a pharmacy manager, continuing the independent pharmacy’s commitment to patients in Hemingway, SC.

Residency

MUSC’s College of Pharmacy boasts decades-long relationships with multiple healthcare and industry systems such as the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston, where Amanda Everett Forrest ’23 was accepted as a PGY1 resident. Dr. Forest is part of MUSC’s most recent class of graduates, which attained one of the nation’s top residency match rates.

Industry - Diversification of Opportunities

Before graduating in May 2021, Keeana J. Ross Pharm.D., MBA and BSC (Engineering) landed a postdoctoral fellowship with Pfizer. This past April, she announced via LinkedIn that she has begun her post-fellowship career at Pfizer as a senior manager in rare disease, US Medical Affairs, where she will support Pfizer’s Sickle Cell Disease program.

Welcome from the Dean

This issue of The Distillate is not just a newsletter.

First, it is a postcard. It is a postcard from the Grand Opening on April 14-15, 2023, with a big “Wish You Were Here!” scrawled across the top. Our historic event was the setting for a wonderful MUSC pharmacy family reunion. It was an opportunity to re-connect with all those aunts and uncles and cousins once-removed - even the in-laws! as well as break bread with those family members whom we’re happy to see more often. But the MUSC pharmacy family tree has a broad, many-limbed canopy. This issue of The Distillate lets us share some pictures of the event for those who couldn’t be there in person. And since a picture is worth a thousand words, we’re going to let the images do the talking. Next issue, we will resume reporting news; in the meantime, you can always visit our blog on pharmacy.musc.edu or follow us on social media to see the latest happenings at the College of Pharmacy.

THE MUSC COLLEGE OF PHARMACY BLOG INCLUDES NEWS AND ACCOLADES OF THE MUSC PHARMACY FAMILY

Second, it is a thank-you letter. The new facility was the result of sustained effort by thousands of people over the course of decades. Every one of you deserves to hold in your hands the commemorated moment. We were fortunate to have many donors participate in the Grand Opening, including some of our most generous alumni and friends. This issue is a special thank you to them. We wanted you to have something that recreates as much of the moment as possible, so you can remember the joy and excitement you made possible. We hope you find this issue to be a keepsake. There is something about a printed piece that feels a little timeless, that conveys a sense of lasting importance. It is, however, limited to what fits. There is much more Grand Opening content for you to enjoy in other platforms:

Program video on the College of Pharmacy YouTube channel

Photo albums of the Grand Opening, alumni tours, and alumni reunions on Flickr

• Many scrollable posts on social media (#iammuscpharmacy)

• Stories on the MUSC News Center and the college blog

You can find links to all these resources in the Grand Opening story at pharmacy.musc.edu/resources/news. hope you will enjoy this opportunity to re-live or experience for the first time - the historic moment!

Nichole Waters Bradley Piaskowski

200 YEARS OF MUSC PHARMACY:

Dean Emeritus Bill Golod

Professor Emeritus Ron

Nickel Professor Emeritus

C. Wayne Weart and Dean Emeritus Arnold Karig in an impromptu moment for the ages.

PHARMACY ROYALTY

Dean Emeritus Bill Golod poses with the Cooper children Gary Cooper, Christy Cooper Whitlock ’90 and Gina Cooper - in front of the Charles F. Cooper ’65 and Family Wing. The success of the Cooper Challenge fundraising effort was a major step forward to bringing the new building to fruition.

BREAKING THE TAPE

Terry and Cindy Blackmon enjoy a moment during the program. Terry Blackmon was serving as the chair behind the wheel of the Building Leadership Committee when the campaign finally crossed the finish line.

The Peter Edwards Family: For decades, MUSC pharmacy students had a friend in Peter Edwards . He admitted them, coordinated their rotations, and shepherded them into the South Carolina Pharmacy Association. Thanks to the Pharmacy Network Foundation, the student lounge is named in his honor and a live oak bears his plaque.

Pharmacy students always make everything better.

Ambassador volunteers directed guests, gave tours, greeted alumni, and were generally awesome. Dakota James ’24 channeled his inner Phil the Pill to become the hit of the party.

READY FOR CLASS

Barbara Harter Rippy tries out one of the seats in the Bobby Gene ’63 and Barbara Harter Rippy Lecture Hall Students have been thrilled with the upgrade in technology, comfort, and functionality of this primary learning space.

Derek and Ashley Robinson Ramsey ‘99 chose the April 15th grand opening for their debut photo with Phil the Pill and for the launch of the Ramsey Family Endowed Scholarship Fund. What a way to celebrate!

Whether it was in the classroom or at the MUSC Family Medicine Pharmacy, hundreds of MUSC pharmacy alumni have Ed and Terry Soltis to thank for their preparation to practice pharmacy. Now they also have them to thank for Room 144, named in their honor!

Bobby Rippy enrolled in the college in 1959, while Barbara Rippy continued to work, supporting the couple until he earned his pharmacy degree. For 34 years, the Rippys owned and operated Smith Drug Store on Main Street in Union, South Carolina.

Heather Sharpe ’00 got her start in pharmacy thanks to Charles Cooper ’65 , one of MUSC pharmacy’s staunchest advocates. She stands with Wesley Cooper, who holds a picture of the Cooper patriarch, and David Whitlock in front of the Charles F. Cooper ’65 and Family Wing.

Ron Profitt ’82 and Joan Gross ’82 joined College of Pharmacy alumni from across the years at the Alumni Association’s pharmacy reunion event held downtown after the grand opening.

When he and his father created the Dr. Justin H. Davis ’13 Endowed Scholarship in 2019, Justin Davis ’13 (pictured with wife Christina and father, Jim Davis) became the youngest alumnus to have an endowed scholarship in his name.

Is the dean giving a tour to a fashion mogul just landed from a show in Milan?

No, that stylish man is Tres Schiltz ’11 a founding member of the Building Leadership Committee as a student! Now with CVS, he heads down to visit the Dr. Clarence “Tres” Schiltz, III Room 103.

Jan Childress McCrary

taking a tour of the building with stops at the rooms bearing names of three grandchildren Harrison Parker Ariail, Jackson Childress Ariail, and Talley Eloise Ariail. All are in memory of T.E. Childress ’68

memory.

Trailblazer James Hodges ’71 pictured with his daughter Jona’ is the first AfricanAmerican to graduate from the MUSC College of Pharmacy.

The James L. Hodges ’71 Alumni Association Scholarship is named in his honor.

One of South Carolina’s most beloved and decorated pharmacists, Professor Emeritus C. Wayne Weart R ’72 livens the portrait room with daughter Heather and wife Patricia. Guests could get professional portraits in front of the “I am MUSC Pharmacy” banner.

& family pause on the grounds before