The University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy Alumni
Association has recognized six outstanding alumni with its Distinguished
Alumnus Award.
The six recipients are listed below with their graduating class: Ted
Hustead, founder and owner, Wall Drug, Wall, S.D., 1929; Lewis Harris,
chairman emeritus, MDS Harris, Lincoln, 1932; Melvin Gibson, Ph.D., professor
emeritus of pharmacognosy, Washington State University College of Pharmacy,
Spokane, Wash., 1942; Tom S. Miya, Ph.D., dean and professor emeritus,
University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy, Chapel Hill, N.C., who
now resides in Omaha, 1947; Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., dean and distinguished
professor emeritus, Purdue University School of Pharmacy, West Lafayette,
Ind., 1949; and Joseph D. Williams, retired chairman and chief executive
officer, Warner-Lambert Company, Bernardsville, N.J., 1950.
Hustead, who died Jan. 12 at the age of 96, was recognized for starting
Wall Drug, one of the most successful and unique businesses in the world.
Each year Wall Drug brings in more than $10 million and attracts about
two million visitors to the remote town where the population has never
risen above 850. Hustead’s store is now 75,000 square feet of western-themed
malls with shops selling everything from T-shirts to expensive boots. A
cowboy orchestra entertains guests every 15 minutes.
Although Hustead passed active management of the store to his son, Bill,
in the late 1970s, he remained a common fixture at the store chatting
with visitors until he was well into his 90s. Today, Hustead’s grandsons,
Rick and Ted, manage Wall Drug.
After being unable to land a job with a pharmaceutical firm after he
completed his pharmacy studies, Harris decided to start his own company,
Harris Laboratories. He stocked his laboratory with discards from the University
of Nebraska College of Pharmacy.
The company, now MDS Harris, grew into a multi-national organization
under his leadership. It is an international leader in pharmaceutical,
agricultural and consumer product testing with offices in Lincoln, Omaha,
Phoenix and six foreign countries, including England and Germany. It was
the first foreign research company to stake operations in China. MDS Harris
and affiliated companies employ more than 1,000 scientists, technicians
and medical professionals who perform more than three million tests each
year.
Harris, 88, serves as chairman emeritus and often arrives at work before
most of the company’s associates. The company conducts studies to evaluate
the safety and effectiveness of everything from cosmetics, shampoos and
deodorants to household cleaners and medical devices. The work of Harris
and his company has resulted in safer pharmaceuticals and foods, less allergenic
cosmetics and a safer water supply.
Through his lifelong work in the field of pharmacy, Dr. Gibson has helped
shape the direction of pharmacy education and pharmacy students across
the country.
As editor of the prestigious American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education
and chairman of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s (AACP)
Curriculum Committee, Dr. Gibson undertook a serious study of educational
curriculum and wrote a book, “Studies of a Core Curriculum.”
Under his leadership, the committee also produced a manuscript on the
role of public health in a pharmacy curriculum. This led Dr. Gibson to
launch an extensive three-year study recommending more emphasis on public
health courses in pharmacy in colleges.
Dr. Gibson may be best known for his work in the classroom, having served
on the Washington State University College of Pharmacy faculty from 1949
to 1985 and being named Faculty Member of the Year in 1985.
Dr. Miya has led a distinguished academic career, serving on the faculty
at Purdue University from 1952 to 1977 and serving as dean and professor
at the University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy from 1977 until
1992.
During his career, Dr. Miya developed a comprehensive graduate program
in toxicology at the UNC School of Medicine and was instrumental in forming
the North Carolina chapter of the Society of Toxicology and served as its
first president. The chapter now has 300 members.
Among his many awards and honors, Dr. Miya won the Merit Award, the
Society of Toxicology’s highest award, in 1984, and the Distinguished Educator
award from the AACP a year later. He served as president of both the Society
of Toxicology and AACP.
Dr. Miya married Midori Sakamoto, a 1945 UNMC College of Pharmacy graduate
who died earlier this year. Their daughter, Pamela Miya, Ph.D., is an associate
professor in the UNMC College of Nursing.
Dubbed the “Hippocrates of Herbs” by Prevention Magazine, Dr. Tyler
has been devoted to seeing that sensible regulations are implemented to
control herbal drugs in the United States. He has written more than 30
books, including two that guide professionals and consumers alike through
the modern health food market: “Tyler’s Honest Herb” fourth edition in
1999 and “Tyler’s Herbs of Choice” second edition in 1999. The books are
designed to correct the misguided labeling and improper use of herbs.
After teaching at the University of Nebraska and University of Washington,
Dr. Tyler was appointed dean of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences
at Purdue University in 1966. He also served as dean of the Nursing and
Allied Health Sciences when those schools merged with pharmacy.
Following 20 years as dean, Dr. Tyler was named executive vice president
for academic affairs and
served in that capacity until 1991 when he was named Lilly Distinguished
Professor of Pharmacognosy.
He received emeritus status in 1996.
It was his grandfather’s Pawnee City, Neb., drug store that prompted
Williams to pursue a pharmacy career. In 1950, he started his career in
sales with Parke-Davis, which was the world’s largest drug manufacturer
at that time. Parke-Davis only hired pharmacists for sales work because
of their knowledge of drugs. Williams quickly moved from sales to marketing
and then into general management. He had the required scientific background
to understand research.
His business skills were evident as he climbed the corporate ladder
to eventually become chief executive officer and chairman of the board
for Warner-Lambert. Now retired, Williams has served as chairman of the
United States Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association and president of
the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers. He also has
served on the boards of AT&T, Exxon Corporation, J.C. Penney, Inc.,
Eckerd Drug, Columbia University and the United Negro College Fund.
In 1980, he was honored with the Remington Honor of Medal from the American
Pharmaceutical Association. This is the pharmacy profession’s highest honor.
Williams’ legacy has given him a permanent place in the UNMC College of
Pharmacy, where an auditorium has been named in his honor and a scholarship
bears his name.
The UNMC College of Pharmacy is located in Omaha and includes more than
250 students in its four classes. More than 60 percent of the pharmacists
practicing in Nebraska are UNMC College of Pharmacy graduates. The UNMC
College of Pharmacy was the third college of pharmacy in the nation to
offer the Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree as its sole degree in 1976.
UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state.
Through its commitment to research, education, outreach and patient care,
UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for
cancer research and treatment and solid organ transplantation. More than
$34 million in research grants and contracts are awarded to UNMC scientists
annually. In addition, UNMC’s educational programs are responsible for
training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other
institution.