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Remembering Kathy Johnson Kathleen Johnson, PharmD ’78, MPH, PhD, died on July 24, 2012, in Bordeaux, France, from injuries sustained in a fall. She was the School’s vice dean for Clinical Affairs and Outcomes Sciences, chair of the Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy, and the William A. and Josephine A. Heeres Endowed Chair in Community Pharmacy. “Dr. Johnson was truly one of a kind—a wonderful person, a superb faculty member and administrator, and such an important and integral part of our School that we will never stop missing her,” says Dean R. Pete Vanderveen. “We can only be grateful that we were privileged with the opportunity to know her and to work with her.” A distinguished leader in the pharmacy profession, Dr. Johnson’s career was marked by innovative thinking and projects critical to today’s national movement to expand the role of the pharmacist as the medication expert on the health care team. Her work to improve medication use and safety, especially among vulnerable populations, distinguished her with several national awards and grants including: >> Co-investigator, CMS Innovation grant, $12 million >> Medication Therapy Review Advisory Board, American Pharmacists Association >> T ransformative Community Service Award (group), American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, 2009 >> Best Practices Award (group), American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, 2008 >> Pinnacle Award (group), American Pharmacists Association, 2007 After joining the faculty in 1984, Dr. Johnson assumed the Titus Family Department chair in 2006 and the Heeres
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Kathleen Johnson
Endowed Chair in 2007. A dedicated educator, she taught PharmD students as well as master’s and doctoral students in Public Health and in Epidemiology and in Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy. Her leadership extended far beyond USC. She authored more than 50 papers and book chapters published by leading pharmacy and managed care journals. “A key to Kathy’s success was that she realized that pharmacy practice needed to adapt to the needs of the patients and the organizations served, not the other way
around,” says Todd Sorensen of the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. “While it is true that our profession is better because of Kathy’s work, more importantly, thousands of underserved patients in Los Angeles are healthier because of her leadership.” Adds Karen Farris of the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy, “The pharmacy community has lost a huge positive voice.”