College Honors Three Leaders in Pharmacy

The College of Pharmacy presented distinguished pharmacy awards in May's commencement ceremonies to two college alumni and a nonalumnus for their significant contributions to the pharmacy profession.

Distinguished Pharmacy Alumnus Award

V. Ravi Chandran, Ph.D., who is now researching and developing several innovative drugs with Signature Pharmaceuticals, received the Distinguished Pharmacy Alumnus Award for his work in drug development and strong support of the college.

Chandran earned a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences from the UF College of Pharmacy in 1986 and in 1999 established the V. Ravi Chandran Professorship Chair for drug design and targeting in the UF College of Pharmacy.

Chandran received his bachelor's and master's degrees in pharmacy from Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India, before attending UF. He has since supported pharmaceutical education by giving an endowment to establish the V. Ravi Chandran Center for Pharmaceutical Sciences and the V. Ravi Chandran Endowment Fund to promote graduate research and student scholarship in the College of Pharmacy at Jadavpur University.

He began his career as a senior research scientist with Sterling Drug Company and has served as president and chief executive officer for Signature Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and American Generics, Inc., both located in Bolton Landing, N.Y.

Distinguished Pharmacy Alumnus Service Award

This year's Distinguished Pharmacy Alumnus Service Award was presented to Michael MacLeay, who previously served as president of the College of Pharmacy Alumni Association for two years, helped to develop a fund to build a new UF pharmacy building and assisted with the college homecoming reunion.

He is recognized for his work with the alumni association and for playing a major role in developing the UF pharmacy distance education campus in Orlando. MacLeay graduated with a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from the UF College of Pharmacy in 1976, and he and his wife, Robin, are lifetime members of the UF Alumni Association, members of Gator Boosters and longtime supporters of the College of Pharmacy.

MacLeay began his career as a staff pharmacist at Florida Hospital Orlando. In 1979 he opened Douglas Square Pharmacy in Longwood, Fla. He later started Nutritional Support Inc., one of the first home infusion pharmacies in Florida, in 1980. He served as the vice president of new business for Healthdyne Inc. in 1987, started Parenteral Therapy Associates Inc. in 1989 and founded and served as president of ProHealth Medical Inc. in 1990.

Distinguished Pharmacy Service Award

The Distinguished Pharmacy Service Award was presented to Thomas D. Keith, Pharm.D., the operations administrator for oncology and director of the department of pharmacy for the Mayo Clinic at St. Luke's Hospital in Jacksonville.

He received the award for his significant leadership in hospital administration and hospital pharmacy practice in his career, his active interest in pharmacy education and for his contributions to the pharmacy profession.

Keith received bachelor's and master's degrees from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Mississippi and continued his education at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Sciences, where he received his doctor of pharmacy degree.

He has held several leadership positions in hospital practice and hospital administration in the Southeast, including serving as the executive vice president and chief operating officer for Shands Jacksonville Medical Center, which he helped turn into a world-class pharmacy.