Student Academic Awards

Office of Professional Education Academic Excellence Award

This award, sponsored by the Office of Professional Education, is given to a graduating student who has excelled in pharmacy studies.

Lynn F. Kieffer Award for Excellence

This award recognizes a graduating student from the Asheville campus who possesses outstanding records of academic achievement, campus leadership, and community engagement. This award is presented annually on behalf of the faculty and staff of the Asheville campus to a student who has demonstrated excellence in the classroom, has embraced professional dispositions, and has contributed to promoting the profession of pharmacy and serving others through community outreach events in Western North Carolina. This award is provided by the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Foundation and made possible through the generosity of Lynn Kieffer ’77 and Dr. Bob Kieffer.

Jamie Gasaway Kilar Patient Care Award

This award recognizes a student who has exhibited the highest standards of knowledge, dedication, and compassion in patient care at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. This award is provided by the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Foundation and made possible through the generosity of Jamie Gasaway Kilar, BSPhar ’95, PharmD ’97.

Ballenger-Smith Award for Excellence in the Pharmaceutical Care Laboratory

This award is presented for outstanding performance by a first-, second-, or third-year student in the Patient Care Laboratory who demonstrates excellence in professionalism, written and verbal communications, pharmaceutical compounding, medication administration, and patient care. This award is provided by the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Foundation and is given by E. Scott Ballenger, BSPhar ’91, and Jennifer Smith Ballenger, AB ’87, to honor William L. Ballenger’s twenty-three years teaching at the North Carolina State School of Education and Robert L. Smith’s twenty-six years as a lab instructor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

Division Awards

Jacobs Award in Medicinal Chemistry

The Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry selects a graduating pharmacy student who achieved excellence in medicinal chemistry coursework and research. This award is provided by the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Foundation and was established in memory of M. L. Jacobs, a medicinal chemist who was dean of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy from 1946 to 1950.

Pharmaceutical Policy and Outcomes Award

The Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy recognizes a student who achieves excellence in the division as evidenced by his or her involvement in pharmaceutical policy and outcomes research, teaching, or service projects.

Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics Award

The Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics selects a graduating student who has demonstrated a high degree of professional motivation and concern about the role of the pharmacist in the delivery of health care.

Professor Leaf Huang Pharmaceutics Achievement Award

This award recognizes a professional student, who not only excelled in the Pharmaceutics & Drug Delivery course during the first year of the PharmD curriculum, but who also advanced the field through superior contributions in teaching or research in the area of pharmaceutics. This award is given in honor of Leaf Huang, Ph.D., Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor, in recognition of his service to the School and generous support of the division.

John C. Hood Sr. Award in Practice Advancement and Clinical Education

The Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education recognizes a graduating student who excels in clinical-therapy courses and demonstrates the highest level of professionalism and exemplary patient care during his or her pharmacy immersion experiences. This award is provided by the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Foundation, and given by family and friends of John C. Hood Sr., a third-generation pharmacist whose father was a charter member of the North Carolina Pharmaceutical Association.

F.O. Bowman Award

This award is presented to a student in the Research and Scholarship in Pharmacy program in recognition of exemplary work and dedication to their mentored, in-depth longitudinal research project. Funding for this award is provided by the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Foundation and is given by Fred O. Bowman Jr., MD ’50, in honor of his father, who served as general counsel to the North Carolina Pharmaceutical Association and the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy.

Teaching Awards

PY1 Instructor of the Year Award

The PY1 class recognizes a faculty member who teaches coursework in the first year of the professional curriculum in recognition of exemplary instructional ability and interest in the students and the educational programs of the School.

PY2 Instructor of the Year Award

The PY2 class recognizes a faculty member who teaches coursework in the second year of the professional curriculum in recognition of exemplary instructional ability and interest in the students and the educational programs of the School.

PY3 Instructor of the Year Award

The PY3 class recognizes a faculty member who teaches coursework in the third year of the professional curriculum in recognition of exemplary instructional ability and interest in the students and the educational programs of the School.

Overall Instructor of the Year

The graduating class recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated the most exemplary instructional ability and interest in the students throughout the four years of the professional program.

The Claude Paoloni Preceptors of the Year

The graduating class recognizes three preceptors for outstanding contributions to the educational development of future pharmacists. These individuals have demonstrated high standards of professionalism, ethics, and clinical practice. Provided by the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Foundation, these awards are given by the Paoloni family in memory of Claude Paoloni and in recognition of his many years of service to the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Claude Paoloni was instrumental in the evolution of the clinical pharmacy program and the growth and development of the AHEC system for statewide pharmacy student education.

Student Activity Awards

Kappa Epsilon Award

The Lambda Chapter of Kappa Epsilon recognizes a student who has demonstrated leadership, character, service, and scholarship.

Phi Lambda Sigma Leadership Award

The Epsilon Chapter of Phi Lambda Sigma recognizes a student who has most noticeably developed and exercised effective leadership skills within the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy by creating positive change, developing relationships, and empowering others.

George H. Cocolas Pharmacy Student Body Award

The student body recognizes a member of the graduating class who has demonstrated the highest qualities of character, deportment, scholarship, participation in extracurricular activities, and promise of future distinction in the profession of pharmacy. This award is given by the Student Senate and is in memory of George H. Cocolas, PhD ’56, former associate dean of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

Boka Hadzija Student Excellence Award

The student body presents this award as peer recognition for all-around service and dedication to the profession of pharmacy. The award was established in 1998 by the Student Senate and named in memory of Boka W. Hadzija, PhD, a pharmacy faculty member, in recognition of her many contributions to the students and educational programs of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

Mikey Nam Well-Being and Resiliency Award

This award is given in memory of Mikey Nam, a UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy student on the Asheville campus who passed away in 2017, to a pharmacy student who demonstrates strong leadership in well-being or resiliency. Mikey not only emphasized the importance of improving oneself, but also motivated others to make a positive difference in the community. The recipient embodies the same core values as Mikey—inclusion, friendship, compassion and joy. This award is provided by the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Foundation.

Special Recognition

Samuel Burrus Award for Community Service

This award is presented to a graduating PharmD student who exhibits outstanding and unselfish civic, community, or church volunteer service provided outside the scope of regular pharmacy practice. This award is provided by the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Foundation and is given by Dr. Henry T. Clark Jr. and Blanche Burrus Clark, BSPhar ’41, and members of the Burrus family in memory of Samuel B. Burrus, who graduated in 1915 from the Southern College of Pharmacy in Atlanta.

UNC School of Pharmacy Distinguished Service Award

This award is given to an individual or individuals whose accomplishments and contributions have enhanced the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as well as the profession of pharmacy at the local, state, national, or international level. In particular, the recipients have provided distinguished service to the School and are therefore considered exceptional supporters of the School’s service and outreach initiatives.

Other Awards

PAA Distinguished Alumni Award

PAA Alumni Burrus Award