National pharmacy group honors Roger Davis as outstanding dean
The American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists selected Dr. Roger Davis, vice provost of health affairs and founding dean of Lipscomb’s College of Pharmacy, as the recipient of its 2018 APhA-ASP Outstanding Dean Award.
Janel Shoun-Smith |
The American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists selected Dr. Roger Davis, vice provost of health affairs and founding dean of Lipscomb’s College of Pharmacy, as the recipient of its 2018 APhA-ASP Outstanding Dean Award.
The award recognizes a dean who has made significant contributions to their college’s APhA-ASP chapter and promoted the welfare of student pharmacists through various community service, leadership and professional activities.
Roger Davis, Vice Provost
The mission of APhA-ASP is to be the collective voice of student pharmacists, provide opportunities for professional growth, improve patient care and envision and advance the future of pharmacy.
Davis will be recognized in March at the APhA 2019 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Seattle, Washington.
Davis was a former assistant dean for Middle Tennessee at the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy. He was employed in the pharmaceutical industry when he was appointed dean of the Lipscomb College of Pharmacy. That was less than three months after the Lipscomb Board of Trustees approved the creation of a College of Pharmacy. At the University of Tennessee, Davis was a member of the faculty for more than 28 years and the assistant dean for Middle Tennessee for 26 years.
In the past 12 years, Davis has built the Lipscomb College of Pharmacy from the ground up, shepherding through seven classes of new pharmacists. He was appointed as vice provost of health affairs in late 2018 and relinquished his duties as dean of the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences on Jan. 2.
In her letter to support the nomination of Dean Davis, Sarah Uroza, assistant professor of pharmacy and sponsor for Lipscomb’s APhA-ASP chapter, wrote: “I have witnessed firsthand Dean Davis’ passion for our students and our profession,” noting that he helps the chapter: by being present and accessible to the student members, helping students financially to take advantage of the association’s events and opportunities, and paying personal attention to each student pharmacist at Lipscomb.
“It can be expensive for students to travel to midyear and annual meetings,” Uroza wrote. “Dean Davis sets aside a portion of his budget to help our students with travel costs to these meetings. Every year we have been able to financially assist 20-40 students in attending annual meeting.”
Moonjung Kim, a fourth-year student pharmacist, wrote the nominating letter for Davis to receive the award. In the letter, she emphasized how Davis takes time out of his busy schedule to personally get to know students, created a well-rounded, quality education for student pharmacists, embraces the progressing roles of pharmacists and encourages them to become involved in professional organizations.
“Dean Davis has created and enforced an environment at Lipscomb that focuses on developing not just quality pharmacists, but quality people. Even after our acceptance, he meets with groups of students through lunches to talk about how we’re doing in school and about our experiences at Lipscomb. Dean Davis takes time out of his busy schedule to meet with students because he cares,” Kim wrote.
“Dean Davis’s genuine care for every student pharmacist at Lipscomb truly creates a familial, safe atmosphere. He is motivational and inspires students to be the best in our field. He is dedicated to our students. I truly believe that it is through his guidance and vision that Lipscomb, in a span of 12 years, has grown and will continue graduating quality professional pharmacists,” Kim wrote.