MEET THE PRESIDENT

Steven A. Scott

doi:10.5688/ajpe81699

Steven A. Scott, PharmD AACP President

The 2017-2018 president of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) is Steven A. Scott, PharmD. Dr. Scott, who considers himself first and foremost a pharmacy educator, received his bachelor of science in pharmacy and his doctor of pharmacy from Purdue University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in West Lafayette, Indiana. He completed an American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists (ASHP) residency at St. Lawrence Hospital in Lansing, Michigan. Dr. Scott started his academic career as an assistant professor of clinical pharmacy at the University of Houston, followed by a position in the school of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences at Purdue University as an assistant professor of clinical pharmacy. He now is associate head for education and an associate professor of clinical pharmacy at the Purdue University College of Pharmacy, where he has served in many academic and administrative roles, including interim associate dean for academic affairs, interim assistant dean for assessment and accreditation, and associate head for education of the department of pharmacy practice. His pharmacy practice experiences have ranged from a community pharmacist for Schaaf Drugs in Lafayette, Indiana, to clinical education coordinator for the Indiana University Hospitals in Indianapolis, to vice president and clinical pharmacist for Clinical Resources Specialists in West Lafayette, Indiana.

He feels extremely fortunate to have been at Purdue University in the 1970s, where he was encouraged to pursue a career in academic pharmacy by three key mentors – Robert Chalmers, George Spratto, and Nicholas Popovich. It was these great mentors who helped him discover unknown talents and, more importantly, instilled the value of family, faculty citizenship, active participation in AACP, and taking risks to improve one’s teaching and scholarship. “Most of all, they demonstrated to me, both as a student but also [as] a young colleague, the importance of getting to know and value students personally to help them connect and grow as individuals, leaders, and professionals,” he said. Dr. Scott has served as the chair of the council of faculties for AACP and on many other council of faculties committees. His other activities for AACP have included serving on the Robert K. Chalmers Distinguished Educator Award selection committee, the professional affairs committee, the institutional research and assessment committee, the Rufus A. Lyman selection committee, the council of faculties nominations committee as well as many committees for the leadership special interest group, assessment special interest group and section of teachers of pharmacy practice. Other professional organizations that Dr. Scott has served include the Rho Chi Honor Society, Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, the Tippecanoe County Unit of the American Cancer Society, and the Purdue Pharmacy Alumni Association.

Dr. Scott’s colleagues all mention his passion and commitment to student mentorship and that he relishes those one-on-one relationships over the course of a student/graduate’s entire career. His career is replete with examples of doing the right thing on behalf of the profession, pharmacy education, curriculum, and/or individual students before focusing on himself. His colleagues mention his leadership strength of “context” and his ability to reference historical events, reports or issues and link them to contemporary issues as demonstrated by his preference for historical books (pharmacy and non-pharmacy) and biographies of historical leaders that line the shelves in his office. Colleagues highlight his many character traits including, among many others, benevolence, compassion, determination, diligence, enthusiasm, humility, initiative, justice, responsibility, sincerity, truthfulness, and virtue. In addition, colleagues all mention his extreme pride, sense of citizenship, and service to his college, university, the pharmacy academy, and pharmacy practice. Conversations with Dr. Scott will quickly give you a sense of his infectious enthusiasm and passion for the roles he believes a faculty member should play. It is not uncommon to feel a heightened sense of zeal and commitment to the Academy after speaking with him.

Dr. Scott has been married to his wife Catherine for more than 40 years. Catherine is a nurse and the chief safety and performance officer in the Center for Medication Safety Advancement in the Purdue University College of Pharmacy. Their daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, David, have two children, Collin and Cate. Their son, Mathew, and his wife, Nicole, also have two children, Parker and Maggie. Dr. Scott’s hobbies and activities include cheering on his Purdue Boilermakers, reading history, listening to classical music, jazz, and any music that makes him feel happy, and officiating at high school volleyball, basketball, and baseball games.