I decided last spring to use Dave’s Corner in the Spring DiscoveRx to thank all of our alumni and friends for their amazing gifts of time, talent, and treasure to the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Pharmacy. I have written this before, and some of you have heard me say this at our alumni engagement events: As a School of Pharmacy alumnus, I find all contributions from alumni and friends to be very inspiring. It makes me proud to be connected with the School of Pharmacy and with all of you in the Pharmacy Badger Family, and your impact on our future Pharmacy Badgers is significant.  

We have a very generous and supportive group of alumni and friends that gave their time and talent to the School of Pharmacy in 2022. Their gifts allow us to improve the quality and scope of our student-focused activities at the school. Thank you to the more than 300 people — in addition to our preceptor network — who volunteered for admissions interviews, served as leadership mentors for our students, lectured to or led discussions with students, and provided practice experiences and research opportunities for students.

I teach a specialty pharmacy elective each spring, and I am very fortunate to have several of our alumni who are leaders and experts in the specialty pharmacy area teach with me. The opportunity for our student pharmacists to learn from expert alumni leaders and to acquire advice about pursuing future careers is incredible. Thank you to all our alumni and friends for your gifts of time and talent.   

Day of the Badger

I would be remiss if I did not thank our alumni and friends who gave gifts of treasure to the School of Pharmacy. Last spring, we participated in the Day of The Badger and raised over $29,000 for our Student Success and Support Fund, which enhances the student experience. The School of Pharmacy Board of Visitors offered a participation challenge for alumni, which unlocked an additional $14,750 in student support for reaching a total of 139 gifts from alumni and friends in spring 2022. The Pharmacy Alumni Association provided $2,500 to match gifts from young alumni (i.e., grads between 2011 and 2021). Some of the funds raised last year will be used by our Office of Global Health to host an international APPE preceptor and research colleague to meet with students and discuss social responsibility for pharmacists. The School of Pharmacy’s global connections are very impactful for our students.

We plan to participate in the Day of the Badger again this spring, March 28-29, and again have a generous young alumni match from the Pharmacy Alumni Association and a challenge match from the School of Pharmacy Board of Visitors to help your donations go further. Please look for information and ways that you can show your Pharmacy Badger pride and contribute to the Student Success and Support Fund before June 30. You can also sign up, in advance, to receive a sheet of Pharmacy Badger stickers by mail to show your Badger pride. The theme for this year’s campaign is “Celebrate and Support” — two areas where Pharmacy Badgers excel!

Student scholarships

Scholarship support for our students is incredibly important, and I want to thank alumni and friends who support scholarships for our students. Admissions scholarship dollars will be even more important as the School of Pharmacy attempts to continue to enroll the best and brightest students in the face of a stunning drop in applicants to schools and colleges of pharmacy nationally, so we’re gearing up to increase our support for these students with an upcoming alumni-powered campaign. The competition is fierce, and admissions scholarships enable us to enroll the brightest students who view UW–Madison as their top choice.

Each year, we host a Scholarship Brunch to recognize student recipients of School of Pharmacy scholarships. This past fall, donor and alumnus Ron Taylor (MS ’66) and the recipient of his scholarship, third-year PharmD student Jenny Lin, spoke to the group. It was wonderful to hear his motivation for supporting students and how his scholarship is impacting one of our current students. Please look for information via email from us this summer about the scholarship brunch and help us bring donors and student recipients together to thank our donors and establish relationships with our students.

Again, I thank alumni and friends for your donations of time, talent, and treasure that are so vital to the future success of the School of Pharmacy. We constantly are identifying school needs and trying to meet those needs. A strong group of alumni and friends who are committed to helping us meet our needs is one of the many attributes that make the School of Pharmacy so great. I look forward to connecting with you and working with you in the future.

Thank you for helping the School of Pharmacy, and On, Wisconsin!

Dave Mott (BS ‘88, MS ‘92, PhD ’95)
Associate Dean for Advancement