Gifts to School of Pharmacy honor former deans and their legacies

As the 122 members of the UCSF School of Pharmacy’s class of 2016 began their first classes this week, they rushed by a wall of pictures of the School’s former deans—all staunch supporters of pharmacy education and pharmaceutical science—stretching back to the School’s beginnings in 1872.

This summer, two beloved former deans—Troy C. Daniels, PhD, and Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD—were recognized for their leadership through major gifts.

Troy C. Daniels Distinguished Professorship

Before his death in April at age 96, leading School benefactor Harry W. Hind—an alumnus, prize-winning inventor, and philanthropist—requested that a distinguished professorship be established in memory of Dean Troy C. Daniels, PhD, and that it be held by each successive dean of the School. A gift was made, and a $4 million endowment established, the largest faculty position endowment in the history of giving to the School.

UCSF Archives and Special Collections

Troy C. Daniels, PhD

As a 1939 graduate of the then-College of Pharmacy, Hind first knew Daniels as his teacher, but their relationship evolved into a close, long-time friendship. His colleagues remembered Daniels as “the personification of pharmacy in all its facets during more than half a century,” according to Daniel’s biography in the UCSF archives. Daniels died in 1986.

During his tenure as dean from 1944 until his retirement in 1967, Daniels established a program leading to the doctor of pharmacy degree. His pioneering vision for pharmacy education emphasized the pharmacist’s need to know the physical and chemical properties of medications as well as their mechanisms of therapeutic action or toxicity.

To this end, he promoted advanced training of pharmacy students in the physical and biological sciences. He consistently recruited faculty members with doctorates in their respective scientific fields, a practice expected today, yet highly unusual among pharmacy schools at the time.

Armed with a unique, deep knowledge about the physical chemistry and biochemistry of medications, pharmacists at UCSF soon applied their knowledge to care directly for patients. As a result, the clinical practice of pharmacy is now the international standard.

The Troy C. Daniels Distinguished Professorship will support the School’s leadership among pharmacy schools nationwide and its highest priorities in teaching, research, and public service. With the culmination of a national search which is now under way, a new dean will be named as the first holder of the Daniels professorship.

Mary Anne Koda-Kimble Seed Award for Innovation

The Joseph and Vera Long Foundation has pledged $1 million to endow the Mary Anne Koda-Kimble Seed Award for Innovation in recognition of Koda-Kimble’s distinguished 43-year career at UCSF, the last 14 of which she served as the School’s dean.

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Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD

The foundation supports non-profit organizations involved with conservation, education, and health care in Northern California and Hawaii. Joseph M. Long, who died in 1990, was an entrepreneur and the chairman and co-founder of Longs Drug Stores. His wife Vera, who died in 1999, was active in the Northern California community where she and her husband lived, and a strong supporter of health and education.

Koda-Kimble is known worldwide among pharmacy students, educators, and practitioners as the co-editor of the first patient-centered, therapeutics-focused textbook for schools of pharmacy. She was a powerful advocate for the role of the pharmacist in health care delivery; a tireless supporter and promoter of basic, translational, and clinical sciences; and an inspiring teacher and dean.

“My role as dean is to plant seeds that have the potential to take root and flourish,” remarked Koda-Kimble to colleagues as she reflected upon her years as dean just before she retired in June 2012. “Innovation is the key to our success; it must be constantly encouraged and nourished.”

The Mary Anne Koda-Kimble Seed Award for Innovation will support innovative projects by School of Pharmacy faculty members, students, and staff that have the potential to move forward the mission of the School in new ways. These projects will often be those for which there is no ready or traditional source of funding.

Fundraising to further support the award is under way.