Alumni Activities
The premise of the 2007 annual report, Building Relationships, is in concert with our loyal alumni community. College of Pharmacy alumni regularly contribute their time and expertise to support the mission of the College, to build fellowship with each other, and to demonstrate their allegiance.
Alumni participate in our White Coat Ceremony for the incoming Doctor of Pharmacy class each year and volunteer in our student admission interview process. Alumni help serve as Homecoming and area representatives and encourage other alumni to attend events and to stay in touch. Over 250 alumni volunteers mentor our fourth-year pharmacy students through the Advanced Practice Experience Program.
Alumni also regularly partake in Iowa Pharmacy Association’s Eggelston-Granberg Golf outing. The event raises money for student scholarship programs at The University of Iowa, Drake University, and the Iowa Pharmacy Foundation. This year’s event was held in Iowa City with over 80 golfers participating.
Alumni events kicked off close to home this year as RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Race Across Iowa) made an overnight stop in Coralville. College of Pharmacy alumni riding on the week-long trip joined current students and faculty at a small park just off the main campgrounds.
Alumni Director Vicki Wittenberg hosted two additional area receptions this year. The first area reception was held in Denver, Colorado. Pharmacy alumni enjoyed a dinner and a Colorado Rockies baseball game. The second reception took place in Phoenix. A group of alumni joined Emeritus Dean Jordan Cohen and his wife Jana to watch a Hawkeye men’s basketball game at a local restaurant. Look for more such events in the future!
Homecoming 2006 was a busy and very successful weekend. Overall there were 152 alumni that returned to campus to enjoy the festivities. Friday’s continuing education session, the Annual Cardiovascular Update, continues to grow in popularity, as does the Pharmacy tailgate on Saturday. We continue to build the class reunions and will be adding affinity reunions, such as a Kappa Psi reunion, in the years to come.
DISTINGUISHED AND HONORARY ALUMNI AWARDS
James Carlson, ’71 BSPh, PharmD, received the College’s Distinguished Alumni Award, and Dennis Helling, PharmD, DSc, was presented with the Honorary Alumnus Award.
After earning his bachelor’s of science degree from the UI College of Pharmacy in 1971, Carlson received a doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Michigan, and completed a pharmacy residency at Buffalo General Hospital in New York in 1976.
In 1977 he joined the Veterans Affairs hospital in Fargo, N.D., as a clinical pharmacy coordinator and later became a full-time faculty member at North Dakota State University (NDSU) College of Pharmacy from 1981-1983. While at NDSU, he and a physician colleague started a small generic-drug evaluation unit that became a commercial operation. This company, PRACS Institute, Ltd., today is a major Phase I clinical trials organizations with 900 beds, 12,000 annual study participants, and a recurring client base that includes most major pharmaceutical and generic drug manufacturing companies.
Carlson has remained active in the business, as well as professional pharmacy organizations. He has received numerous awards for his achievements and leadership in pharmacy and business.
Dennis Helling began his faculty career at the UI College of Pharmacy in 1973 and was instrumental in initiating a primary-care model that led to pharmacy faculty serving full-time at family medicine residency sites across Iowa. He remained at the UI until 1988, serving as a division head for many years.
Following four years at the University of Houston, Helling joined the Kaiser Permanente Organization in Denver, Colo., where he has served as executive director of pharmacy operations and therapeutics ever since. He oversees a staff of 700 and has played a major part in expanding roles for pharmacists in a variety of ambulatory and clinical services. His work is recognized nationally and stands as a practice model that many pharmacy professionals look to in changing the way pharmacy services are delivered and reimbursed.
Helling continues to serve in professional pharmacy organizations, and he has been a visiting lecturer and scholar at numerous academic institutions in the United States and abroad.
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