String of awards spotlight top pharmacy faculty

In pharmacy circles, winning a Distinguished Pharmacy Educator Award from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy is more than just a great honor. Landing the “Crystal Owl,” as it’s known, is considered the equivalent of winning the Nobel Prize, an Academy Award or the Lombardi Trophy.

A school of pharmacy with one such winner on its faculty roster could be justifiably proud. A school with two might be giddy. In July, the UW School of Pharmacy became the only pharmacy school in the nation to claim three winners.

Joe Wiederholt, a professor of pharmacy administration, became the third UW educator to win the AACP’s top award, joining current professor George Zografi and emeritus professor Ken Connors among the pharmacy-educator elite. Unlike accolades that focus on a particular specialty, the Distinguished Educator Award recognizes professors who excel in teaching, research and public service.

As the school prepares to move into its new facility, set for completion early next year, it continues to shine where it counts the most – in the educational arena. In fact, Wiederholt’s award is merely the most high profile of a slate of recent awards scored by faculty in the UW School of Pharmacy, one of 80 pharmacy schools nationwide. In the last six months alone, James DeMuth received an Award of Merit from the AACP, while the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin handed pharmacy dean Melvin Weinswig its Distinguished Service Award.

For the UW, the long-term benefits of a crowded trophy shelf have already proven to be greater than a few inches of positive press. Just as in athletics, where a winning program often breeds a string of championship seasons, having nationally respected professors in the UW stable has significantly bolstered the school’s ability to attract and retain top notch teaching talent. “Educators look at who we have on staff and they begin thinking, “I wouldn’t mind being on a faculty with that person,'” says Weinswig. “It’s getting to the point where every year, Wisconsin is doing well – we’re always in the top five in every evaluation category.”

It’s easy to see why Wiederholt was attractive to the AACP selection committee. In the 1980s, he was instrumental in developing and implementing a series of self-evaluation guidelines for Wisconsin pharmacies-guidelines that emphasized the importance of patient consultation in pharmacy administration.

“Joe has been willing to put the time in and take risks with his teaching,” says Weinswig of Wiederholt. “It’s easy to go in, give an hour-long lecture and simply walk away. Joe brings in physicians, nurses and patients to interact with his students.”

Wiederholt credits the UW’s “entrepreneurial environment” for his success. “You have an environment here that allows you to pursue the issues you want to pursue. You can succeed or you can fail, but you can’t ask for more than that.”