UNMC College of Pharmacy Alumni Association Presents Distinguished Alumnus Awards to Six Individuals

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.