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Harold is so passionate about pharmacy that in addition to his almost 50 years in practice, teaching, and academic leadership, he has continually given his personal time to professional organizations as well as residency training and teaching pharmacy students. What is remarkable about Harold is that he has always been able to step back and view issues from the perspective of the whole profession, not just as a hospital/health-system pharmacist. He has rarely missed a national or state professional meeting, continues to be an instrumental part of whatever change is occurring (preferring not to be a victim), and continues to seize opportunities. His professional commitment is evidenced by his serving as president of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the American Council of Pharmacy Education (now known as the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, or ACPE), the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), and Chair of the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS). In his 1991 Harvey A.K. Whitney Award Lecture, he outlined the converging paths leading to the development of pharmaceutical care, which moves pharmacists into direct patient care. He also recently received the profession’s APhA Remington Award.

Harold received his bachelor of science in pharmacy degree at the University of Kansas and his master of science degree from The Ohio State University. He completed a residency at The Ohio State University Hospitals. He is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Kansas, School of Pharmacy.

Harold ends his letter with excellent advice: a successful career is not a destination, but it is the journey to success that is so very rewarding.

Those who know Sandra know her as a staunch advocate for the pharmacy profession and a healthcare provider who has dedicated her career to addressing the needs of patients in underserved communities. Early in her career, Sandra served as Medical Director and Clinical Pharmacist at El Rio Community Health Center, a community health center providing accessible and affordable healthcare for underserved populations in Tucson, Arizona. This experience prepared her to later lead an organization that provides medication therapy management services to at-risk Medicare Part D beneficiaries, where she focused on reducing hospitalizations, lowering healthcare costs, and improving outcomes in patients with chronic conditions. Sandra’s immediate past position was Vice President of Collaborative Innovation and Clinical Strategy with Aetna, a CVS Health Company; she was the first pharmacist to hold this position in Medical Affairs. Her current role is Vice President, Pharmacy Practice Innovation and Advocacy with CVS Health.

So passionate is Sandra about being a voice of change and creating a dialogue for others who cannot speak for themselves that the theme of her address when she was installed as the 166th President of the American Pharmacists Association was “Be the voice.” Sandra advises readers to identify what their mission is and create the career that aligns with that.

How many of us, when presented with three job offers, would choose the lowest paying? Not many, I suspect. But that is exactly what Rear Admiral (RADM, ret.) Thomas J. McGinnis did after graduating from pharmacy school, choosing to pass up two more lucrative offers to join the United States Public Health Service (PHS). Tom has spent his entire career in the PHS and, looking back on it, he has never regretted that decision.

Tom’s letter describes his remarkable career at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and later taking the helm of the U.S. Department of Defense’s TRICARE Pharmacy Program, which provides pharmacy care to almost 10 million members of the seven uniformed services and their families. His work has provided many interesting challenges and many opportunities to improve our citizens’ health. One of his most memorable and rewarding experiences was his deployment to storm-ravaged areas along the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Just before his retirement Tom served as Chief, Pharmaceutical Operations Division, responsible for pharmacy operations of the Defense Health Agency.

He earned his bachelor of science degree in pharmacy from Rutgers University and a certificate in general administration from the University of Maryland. He is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute.

Tom’s advice to young pharmacists is to record your observations, milestones, and lessons learned over time; build the strongest foundation of knowledge, skills, and contacts that you can; and build a strong personal foundation.

In talking with Paul, you might be struck by his communication style. His Harvey A.K. Whitney address, “An Iconoclastic Perspective on Progress in Pharmacy Practice,” is evidence of his straight-forward style. Paul is a consummate leader who is willing to fight for what is in the best interests of not only his staff, but his patients. He is willing to challenge the status quo no matter what the personal cost. He continues to be a dedicated mentor to numerous students, residents, and young practitioners by sharing his philosophy and experiences. Paul has given unselfishly of his time to an array of professional organizations and has also served as ASHP President.

Prior to retiring, Paul was Senior Vice President, Pharmacy Practice, at McKesson Medication Management. He had previously served as Director of Pharmacy at Rush-Presbyterian-Saint Luke’s Medical Center, Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, and the University of Connecticut Health Center. Paul died in 2020.

He received his bachelor of science in pharmacy from the University of Rhode Island and completed a residency and master’s degree at the University of Michigan.

He indicates in his letter: Do not agonize over work/personal life conflicts, as trying to compartmentalize your professional life and personal life can be a futile experience for a truly dedicated professional.

As you meet Joyce it is immediately obvious she is a gregarious extrovert who has a great sense of humor, and with little prompting she will tell you a joke, many on herself. It is thus easy to imagine her early experience as a bus tour guide telling jokes to keep her charges engaged. Joyce has a serious side as she is an expert and proficient drug information specialist. She put together all the Black Box warnings and published them thus alerting and enabling practitioners to protect patients. Joyce brings a number of years of experience in conducting drug information centers and teaching as a pharmacy faculty while raising a family.

Joyce holds a bachelor of science in pharmacy from the University of Connecticut, School of Pharmacy and a master of science degree from The University of Kansas, School of Pharmacy. She completed residencies at the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals and Kansas University Medical Center. Joyce is currently Director, Synthesized Referential Content, Facts and Comparisons and Professor Emeritus, Kansas University School of Pharmacy.

In her letter, she gives the following advice: Saying goodbye to “perfect” and hello to “it’s done” and learning the difference between the two is a key to being comfortable with the decisions you make on how to spend your time.

In getting to know Ron, you will find him very principled and willing to be candid about his opinions. Ron epitomizes being his own person. He is one of the first people to justify and achieve being a Chief Pharmacy Officer and thus positioned himself at the senior administrative table. Since retiring, he has become a Certified Executive Coach (CEC) to pursue his passion for leadership development by creating and utilizing centers of knowledge and excellence in healthcare processes. Ron focuses on improving healthcare leadership performance by helping individuals to develop and sustain new perspectives, attitudes, skills, and behaviors.

He serves as a primary faculty for the Pharmacy Leadership Academy’s Leading for System Reliability in Safety and Quality Course. Although for most of his career he did not venture far from his North Carolina roots, he traveled to Asia and South America as a speaker and educator in his role as a consultant with Joint Commission International and Joint Commission Resources.

Ron’s bachelor of science in pharmacy and master of science in business administration degrees are from the University of North Carolina. He advises that in his experience, all great success stories have one thing in common: people with passion and a sense of urgency to succeed.

Kathi is an example of a woman who “has it all.” She is a dedicated pharmacist and has still found the time and energy to be very active in Boy Scout leadership, even after her son completed scouting. Kathi has always consciously prioritized her family equally with her career, as her letter describes. Before the advent of the concept of transitions of care, Kathi worked collaboratively with nurses, physicians, social workers, and administrators as the bone marrow transplant clinical pharmacist who took care of both the ambulatory and inpatient stays. She is also an example of a clinical practitioner who moved into formal leadership positions but maintained her BCOP certification and indeed did choose to return to clinical practice.

She completed her bachelor of science in pharmacy at Auburn University and her master’s degree in public health at San Jose State University. Kathi is currently the Pharmacy Compliance Coordinator at Stanford Healthcare.

She gives this superb advice: Follow your heart, seize every opportunity, and know that there will always be trade-offs.

Max continues to be adroit in not only thinking about critical issues facing pharmacy but in putting his conclusions into publications so others can benefit. This skill is evidenced in his 1997 Harvey A.K. Whitney Lecture, “Letters from the Edge,” in which he writes three imaginary letters on what is meant by professional practice, the qualifications, and activities required. The letters are from 1940, 1997, and 2040. He has seized various opportunities throughout his career to contribute, moving from practice leadership and college faculty, to professional organizational staff, and culminating in being a college of pharmacy dean.

His bachelor of science degree in pharmacy is from the University of South Carolina and his doctor of pharmacy and master’s in hospital pharmacy degrees are from the University of Tennessee. He completed a two-year residency at Methodist Hospital in Memphis.

In his letter he states that serving a purpose bigger than ourselves is more important than embellishing your resume.