The Doctor of Pharmacy classes at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy selected their favorite instructors of 2016–2017. The winners were presented with an instructor of the year award at the 2017 annual Awards Ceremony held April 22 at the Rizzo Center.
- The overall instructor of the year is Dennis Williams, Pharm.D.
- The PY3 instructor of the year is Jay Campbell, J.D.
- The PY2 instructor of the year is Bob Dupuis, Pharm.D.
- The PY1 instructor of the year is Carol Otey, Ph.D.
- The experiential faculty member of the year is Suzanne Harris, Pharm.D.
Dennis Williams
Dennis Williams is an associate professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics and the division’s vice chair of professional education and practice. He is a board certified pharmacotherapy specialist and a certified asthma educator.
At the School, Williams is known for his performance in the classroom as well as in the clinic. He teaches infectious diseases and pulmonary modules, drug literature evaluation, and the acute care elective along with physiology. He was also named the School’s overall and PY2 instructor of the year in 2014 and 2012 respectively.
Williams joined the School as a clinical assistant professor in 1983 and was promoted to clinical associate professor in 1991. In 1993 he made the jump to a tenure-track position as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 2000. As a vice chair of DPET, he has been responsible for professional education and practice since 2008. He held a similar position in the Division of Pharmacy Practice (now PACE) for the first half of the 1990s.
Williams also serves as co-adviser to the Carolina Association of Pharmacy Students and precepts four to six students each year on pulmonary medicine or infectious disease medicine clerkships at UNC Hospitals.
Jay Campbell
Jay Campbell is the executive director of the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy. He obtained his B.S. in pharmacy from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and his law degree from the Vanderbilt University School of Law. Campbell teaches “PHCY 432: Pharmacy Law and Ethics” as an adjunct faculty member in the Division of Practice Advancement and Experiential Education.
Before attending law school, Campbell practiced community pharmacy and worked as a researcher for a pharmaceutical company. Following law school and a federal judicial clerkship, Campbell practiced as an appellate litigation attorney for eight years in Washington, D.C., and Charlotte. He is also an adjunct professor at the Wingate University School of Pharmacy.
Bob Dupuis
Bob Dupuis is a clinical professor in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics. He teaches “PHCY 611: Applied Clinical Pharmacology.” Dupuis also provides clinical pharmacy services and precepts pharmacy students on their clinical rotations at UNC Hospitals on the solid organ transplant teams. Prior to this year, he has been honored as an instructor of the year by the Pharm.D. classes 10 times and is a two-time recipient of an excellence in teaching award from the School.
Dupuis earned his Doctor of Pharmacy from the State University of New York – Buffalo and is board certified in pharmacotherapy. He came to the School as an instructor in 1985, joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 1989, was promoted to clinical associate professor in 1995 and achieved his current rank in 2013.
Carol Otey
Carol Otey is a professor of cell biology and physiology at the UNC School of Medicine. She came to UNC as a postdoctoral fellow in 1987 and joined the School of Medicine as an assistant professor in 1998. She was promoted to associate professor in 2004. She received her Ph.D. in cell biology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Otey studies the molecular basis of normal, regulated cell movement to understand how this fundamental process is controlled and how it is subverted to give rise to pathological situations. She teaches “PHCY 502: Pathophysiology of Disease.”
Suzie Harris
Suzanne “Suzie” Harris is currently a clinical assistant professor in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, director of UNC Hospital Region Experiential Program, and a clinical pharmacy specialist in psychiatry with UNC Hospital and Clinics. She is a board certified psychiatric pharmacist and is pursuing her clinical pharmacy practitioner status.
Harris was selected by the PY4 class, who take nine advanced pharmacy practice experience courses. Harris teaches and directs a variety of these experiences throughout the year.