The Pharmacy Alumni Association honors Maves’ career built on care and innovation
By Katie Ginder-Vogel
As a ninth grader at Appleton High School, Terry Maves (BS ‘69) chose his career — a choice that would lead to decades of meaningful experiences.
“My social studies teacher assigned us a seven-page paper on what we wanted to do in our careers,” Maves says. “I went home and asked my dad what some good jobs are, and he listed banker, doctor, dentist, minister, car salesman, and pharmacist. I looked those jobs up in the World Book Encyclopedia, the 1959 version of the internet, and pharmacist had the most information, so I picked that.”
The students also had to interview a professional in their selected career, so Maves interviewed Mylan Sinclair (BS ’51), co-owner of Appleton Pharmacy, whose namesake scholarship has supported numerous students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Pharmacy. In 1959, Sinclair and his co-owner Morris “Gabby” Gabert (BS ’51) brought Maves to Madison to visit the School of Pharmacy.
“The School prepared me for things that hadn’t even been thought of yet when I was a student.”
–Terry Maves
“I visited, sat in the lecture hall, and was hooked,” Maves says.
He became a Badger a few years later, marking the beginning of a career defined by innovation, service, and leadership. In recognition of his impact, Maves is being honored as the 2025 Alumnus of the Year by the Pharmacy Alumni Association.
“I’m shocked,” Maves says. “I don’t know if anyone would have expected me, the fun-loving pharmacy student in the second row from the back, to get this award.”
Community pharmacy to managed care
After Maves’ first year of pharmacy school, Sinclair hired him for the summer, and Maves spent the next 11 years at Appleton Pharmacy. In fact, Maves stayed in Appleton his entire working career.
In 1979, Maves moved to Shopko, where he was a store manager for several years.
“I learned business from Shopko,” he says. “I didn’t realize it yet, but I was prepared, with the professional and business experience to move into the new world of managed care HMOs.”
Maves stayed at Shopko for several more years, also becoming a consultant for Touchpoint Health Plan, which covered more than a dozen Wisconsin counties, dipping his toes into a field that didn’t even exist when he was in college: managed care.
“The School prepared me for things that hadn’t even been thought of yet when I was a student,” he says. “You have to be appreciative of the professors, deans, and everyone who taught us to be prepared for change.”
In 1996, Maves joined Touchpoint full time as pharmacy director and developed a new program to counsel patients that was used by pharmacists, nurses, and physicians in the plan. They distributed take-home sheets on 16 disease states, written in accessible language that patients could understand.
“That was one item that helped propel us to become the No. 1 health plan in the country for quality in 2002, 2003, and 2004,” Maves says. “That reputation caught the eye of United Healthcare, and they purchased us. I became pharmacy director for United Healthcare in Wisconsin in 2006.”
Throughout his career, Maves collaborated with pharmacists, physicians, clinics, quality specialists, employers, employees, pharmaceutical companies, state legislators, and consumers to implement innovative programs that improved healthcare outcomes and pushed the field forward. His success in managed care reflected a broader truth he’d come to understand about pharmacy: it never stays the same for long.
“The School of Pharmacy prepared me for the fact that there were major changes in the field of pharmacy every 11 years of my career,” he says. “For the first 11 years of my career, there were no chain drugstores. In the next 11 years, we saw the explosion of chain drugstores, which totally changed the practice of pharmacy.”
Leading through change
Maves has served as president and chairman of the board of the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin, was appointed by the governor to the Pharmacy Examining Board, and in 2000, was named PSW’s Innovative Pharmacist of the Year. In 2011, Maves was recognized as one of nine graduates of the University of Wisconsin who have made a difference in Fox Valley communities. He received the 2014 Bowl of Hygeia Award, PSW’s highest honor, and in 2022, he received PSW’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Distinguished Service Award. Maves was inducted into the Appleton High School Hall of Fame in 2021.
“As I look back now, I see that everything fits into place, and that ordinary people, whether through career, family, church, or community, can make a difference.”
–Terry Maves
Even though Maves retired in 2014, he continues to give back to his community, having served as chairman of the board of the Fox Cities Community Health Center and currently serving on the board of the Riverside Cemetery in Appleton. He’s brought the same commitment and compassion to raising his five children and the many foster children that he and his wife, Mary, cared for over the years.
“As I look back now, I see that everything fits into place, and that ordinary people, whether through career, family, church, or community, can make a difference,” Maves says. “I have really had a wonderful life.”
