Heeding the Call

By Melinda Young

PAA President Ben Michaels,’97, and incoming President Jenny Riddell,’06, at the 2008 PAA Homecoming Brunch.

In the fall 2008 edition of Dawg Scripts, Pharmacy Alumni Association (PAA) President Ben Michaels made the case for alumni to get involved with the PAA.

The PAA board is pleased to announce that many alumni took his words to heart. These are just a few highlights of how:

• Membership in PAA has risen 15 percent since October 2008.
• The PAA board of directors is now at full capacity with the recent addition of Judi Mar-Burbidge, ’82, ’00, as its newest Member-at-Large, as well as a new group of enthusiastic student representatives from all four class years.
• More than 100 alumni are currently members of the PAA Facebook group.
• And thanks to member generosity, the association will be able to offer a need-based scholarship to a Pharm.D. student this year. It will be the first such scholarship, and it will be in addition to the Professional Excellence Award that PAA gives a graduating senior each year.

The PAA has high hopes for this new scholarship fund.

“With alumni’s continued help, we would like to grow this scholarship fund to help our students for years to come,” said Michaels. “Such support for pharmacy students is so important because the future of pharmacy is in their hands.”

Given the looming possibility for tuition increases in coming years, the need for this kind of assistance will only continue to grow. So if you haven’t had the chance to make a gift, you can do so when you join the PAA or when you renew your membership.

When filling out your PAA membership form, please check the box that asks if you’d like to contribute to the scholarship. Keep in mind, too, that when you make this additional donation, it counts towards your Dean’s Club status.

For more information about joining and getting involved in PAA, please visit the School of Pharmacy Office of Advancement Web site.

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Photo courtesy UW School of Pharmacy