Summer 2012 - Western University of Health Sciences

A Decade of Success for the
GNP/ICP Scholarship Golf Classic
By Jeff Keating, Executive Director of Public Affairs
More than 200 golfers from all over Southern California hit
the links at Robinson Ranch Golf Club in Canyon Country on
Wednesday, June 13 for the 10th annual – and final – Good
Neighbor Pharmacy/Institute for Community Pharmacy
(GNP/ICP) Scholarship Golf Classic. Tournament co-founder
and honorary chairman Mike Quick, National Vice President
of Development for GNP, hosted the event.
The original concept for the event was developed by Walter
Cathey, then CEO of ICP, and David Dyck, President of Santa
Susana Consultants. They brought the idea to David Breslow,
then CEO of United Pharmacists Network, Inc., and together
they enlisted the support of GNP and Mike Quick.
The 2012 tournament, themed “A Decade of Success,”
celebrated 10 years of GNP/ICP fundraising for the College of
Pharmacy at WesternU and the USC School of Pharmacy.
Since 2003, the tournament has raised over $1 million for the
two schools, providing $10,000 annual scholarships in
support of pharmacy students interested in pursuing careers in
community pharmacy. At the 2011 WesternU “A Tribute to
Caring” annual scholarship fundraiser gala,
AmerisourceBergen and GNP were honored for their
tremendous support of pharmacy education, and
AmerisourceBergen Corporation President, David Neu,
accepted the 2011 A Tribute to Caring Corporate
Humanitarian Award.
“About 65 percent of the pharmacy owners of independent
pharmacies today in this country are 55 or older,” said Mike
Quick. “There is a tremendous need for maintaining
independent pharmacy ownership and practice because of the
unique role these pharmacies play in their patients’ lives and
for the communities they serve. I think that’s very, very
important, and I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve been
able to do in 10 years.”
“When we started the tournament and providing the
scholarships, our goal was to foster the development of the
next generation of store owners for independent pharmacies,”
said David Breslow, PharmD, tournament chair and Chief
Executive Officer of ICP. “We’ve done that. We’ve made an
impact on the future of community pharmacy.”
Daniel Robinson, PharmD, dean of WesternU’s College of
Pharmacy, and R. Pete Vanderveen, PhD, RPh, dean of the
USC School of Pharmacy, both cite the tremendous support
this tournament has offered to pharmacy students over the
past decade.
“This has been helping us with scholarships and benefiting
students for 10 years, and we’re sorry to see it end, but
it’s been a great run and we’ve had a fabulous time,”
Robinson said.
“We’re very grateful for the ongoing support that Good
Neighbor Pharmacy and Mike Quick have provided to our
school and our students,” said Vanderveen. “And we all
enjoyed playing an annual round of golf together.” ■
Below Left: 2011 WesternU scholarship recipients Drupad Parikh, Mayur Yadav,
Daniel Robinson, PharmD, Dean of WesternU’s College of Pharmacy, Tiffani Emerson,
Aida Oganesyan, and Youkavet Samih.
Below right: Dean Daniel Robinson, David Breslow, PharmD, Chief Executive Officer
of the Institute for Community Pharmacy, Mike Quick, National Vice President of
Development for Good Neighbor Pharmacy, and R. Pete Vanderveen, PhD, RPh,
Dean of USC School of Pharmacy.
WesternU, College of Pharmacy RxBound | 7