ChipChat March-April 1996

I want to welcome a number of you as new readers of this publication for pharmacy VIPs. Numerous alumni have joined the Dean's Club this spring as well as some new members on the Dean's Professional Advisory Council and the Dean's Industrial Advisory Council. Welcome!! I hope you will find this update interesting and helpful in staying informed about activities of the school. Our circulation is about 350 now, and I would love to see it keep growing. You represent the upper echelon of our alumni and friends and I value our continuing relationship.

This is finals week and the senior banquet will be held on Friday evening. Pharmacy graduation is scheduled for Saturday, May 11 at 2:30PM. How can the year be over already? On a sports note, it was great to see the men's basketball team three-peat for the Big Ten championship. I know all of us would have liked to see them go further than they did in the NCAA tournament, but these guys were overachievers all season long. I know Gene is really proud of them. Our local media have been preoccupied with stories about the women's program. From here it's hard to tell how much national press the story has received, but I'm glad a new coach, Nell Fortner, has been hired and can get on with stabilizing the team situation. She seems to have a lot of talent, enthusiasm, personality, and experience that can propel the Boilermaker program a level higher.

We are pleased with the accomplishments of pharmacy student Corissa Yasen, a standout on the Purdue women's track and field team. Corissa came to Purdue because she heard that the School of Pharmacy was the best in the country. She was named the Purdue Female Athlete-of-the-Year and won four individual Big Ten championships and two All-American recognitions during the 1994-95 season. High jump is her specialty, and she cleared 6' 2.5" to exceed the record of legendary University of Minnesota athlete, Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Corissa is training for a place on the USA team for the summer Olympics. I wish her success!

A special thanks to several of you who renewed your Dean's Club membership after the note in the last issue. I promised a reminder with this issue, but it will come separately for those who have still not renewed. Your financial help means so very much to the school. Also, you may receive a phone call this month asking for your support for the pharmacy library furniture fund. With the pharmacy library remodeling under way, there will be opportunities to purchase chairs, tables, and study carrels (a nameplate will recognize you on the furniture you purchase). Thanks again for being supportive.

I previously reported that we had 495 applicants for admission to pharmacy school for Fall 1996. I want to bring you up to date on our progress. Over 300 applicants have been interviewed, and 72 students have received tentative admits to the Pharm.D. program (100 will be admitted). An additional 86 applicants who selected the Pharm.D. as their first choice have been given deferred status for the Pharm.D. and tentative admits to the B.S.Pharm. program (150 will be admitted). An additional 56 students selecting the B.S.Pharm. as their first choice have received tentative admits to the B.S. Pharm. program. Another 82 students are in deferred status for the B.S.Pharm. program. Final decisions will be made after academic work for the current semester is reviewed. I know it sounds a little confusing, but the process is working well and I appreciate the efforts of Associate Dean Chalmers and all of the faculty and staff who have helped him in making the interviewing and evaluation process logical and fair.

Congratulations to our four distinguished alumni for 1996! They were on campus to be honored on Friday, March 22, 1996. They are: Kyle Allen (BS'81), Executive Director and Quality Management Director, MetroHealth, Indianapolis; Mark W. Fitch (BS'72), Vice President Manufacturing Operations, Knoll Pharmaceutical Company, Mt. Olive, NJ; Albert L. Peyton (Ph.D.'83 - Medicinal Chemistry), Head of Drug Disposition, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis; and, Charles E. Pippenger (Ph.D.'71 - Pharmacology), Director of the Cook Health Sciences Research and Education Institute, Butterworth Hospital, Grand Rapids, MI. These are truly outstanding individuals and it was a pleasure to honor them.

I want to welcome Dr. Steven R. Abel as the new head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice starting May 1, 1996. Steve received his B.S. in Pharmacy from Purdue in 1976 and his Doctor of Pharmacy in 1978. His was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1988. Steve will be located in Indianapolis at our pharmacy office at the Indiana University Medical Center. Steve has been the assistant director of pharmacy for the I.U. Hospitals and I am excited that he will be able to continue the expansion of our programs in Indianapolis. I also want to thank Dr. Holly Mason who has served as the acting head of the department this past year.

Dr. Rodney Carter is to be congratulated as he accepts a new position as the head of the Pharmacy Practice Department of the new pharmacy school at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia. In addition, our best wishes go to Dr. Craig Marcus who is leaving Purdue to accept a position in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of New Mexico.

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Charles Pidgeon has been promoted to Professor of Medicinal Chemistry.

The search continues for the right person to head the new department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology. Candidates have visited campus and we hope to have a selection soon.

One final note. It was exciting to see so many alumni and friends at our APhA reception in Nashville. Thanks for taking time to visit with us. If your travel plans bring you to campus this summer, please stop in to see me. If you haven't been to campus for a while, I think you will be impressed with the changes.