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Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy Dean Joseph T. DiPiro, Pharm.D., has been selected to receive the American College of Clinical Pharmacy’s 2014 Paul F. Parker Medal for Distinguished Service to the Profession of Pharmacy. The Parker Medal Selection Committee chose DiPiro for the honor based on his three decades of leadership in clinical pharmacy practice, education and research.

He will receive the medal during ACCP’s 2014 annual meeting in Austin, Texas, in October.

Members of the selection committee, comprising representatives from the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners and past ACCP presidents, noted the breadth and depth of DiPiro’s contributions to the field.

“He has an exceptional record as an academician and researcher in clinical pharmacy,” they wrote, “and has added significantly to moving the profession forward. In addition, his leadership of the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education [which he edited for 12 years] has been outstanding and certainly contributed to his national presence.”

Sheldon Retchin, M.D., CEO of the VCU Health System and senior vice president for health sciences at VCU, said, “Dr. DiPiro’s recognition as the Paul F. Parker Medal awardee is yet another confirmation that he is among a very elite group of scholars in schools of pharmacy nationwide. All you have to do is read the testimonials from his colleagues, including those who nominated Joe for the Parker Medal, and you realize that his accomplishments are the stuff of legend.

“His textbook, ‘Pharmacotherapy: A Pathophysiologic Approach,’ is now in its ninth edition, and the DiPiro name is synonymous with scholarly excellence.”

Paul F. Parker, for whom the award is named, died in 1998. He was one of clinical pharmacy’s most influential proponents. As director of pharmacy at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center in Lexington, his innovations ranged from developing decentralized pharmacy services and using pharmacists in the hospital’s clinical areas to developing the country’s first pharmacist-staffed drug information center.

During his 24 years at the medical center, Parker passed his vision to more than 150 residents and fellows, including DiPiro.

“This medal is very special to me because Paul Parker was my residency program director at the University of Kentucky,” said DiPiro. “Paul was truly a unique individual, a leader, a pioneer in hospital pharmacy, a futurist and a mentor to many people of my era.

“He was actively engaged with his residents and had a major influence on their career directions. He was not a scientist or clinician. He focused on the people around him and his many connections to the profession throughout the U.S. and the world.”

The year after DiPiro earned his Pharm.D. degree from the University of Kentucky, he received the medical center’s Outstanding Resident Award.  

His nominator for the Parker Medal was Philip Hall, Pharm.D., professor and campus dean at the South Carolina College of Pharmacy, where DiPiro served as executive dean from 2005 until this year.

Hall, who is an alumnus of the VCU School of Pharmacy, wrote, “He has demonstrated superb administrative skills. He establishes high standards but demonstrates openness and flexibility. … He guided the SCCP to bring together two different university cultures, guided the SCCP through the accreditation process and steered the successful graduation of five classes from the SCCP.”

Barbara Wells, Pharm.D., dean emeritus of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, wrote a letter of support, concluding, “Dr. DiPiro is a creative, driven and gifted leader who continues to inspire and develop faculty at all levels. There is no question that he is at the top of his profession. Almost everyone in pharmacy education and clinical pharmacy in the United States is familiar with his work as a researcher and his sustained contributions to patient care and education.

“His many awards speak to his national recognition and to the quality and significance of his work. I can think of no one with a more recognizable and respected name in pharmacy education.”

Among the national offices DiPiro has held are ACCP president (2005-06) and chairman of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Council of Deans (2011-14). He is a fellow of ACCP as well as the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he has been inducted into the National Academies of Practice’s Academy of Pharmacy Practice.              

DiPiro’s tenure at VCU began July 1. “Clearly,” said Retchin, “we are fortunate to have recruited an outstanding leader, educator and scholar as dean of the School of Pharmacy.”

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