Foundation Chair of Pharmacy farewelled and thanked

Monday, 24th April, 2006

The University of Newcastle will farewell the Foundation Chair of Pharmacy on Wednesday.

Professor Shane Scott has spent the past three years assisting to implement the first Master of Pharmacy program in Australia.

"Professor Lloyd Samson and I discussed the need for a post graduate entry degree program in Australia many years ago, and I was able to be part of actually implementing it."

"The staff worked extremely hard to get this program up and running. We have had our first group of graduates through and it's now time for the next person coming into the role to take it to the next level," he says.

Before taking on the project Professor Shane Scott had experienced Post Graduate teaching first hand after years of study and work in America.

Professor Mike Calford says Professor Scott's appointment added depth to the Pharmacy program's development.

"We needed a strong voice in academia and in the Pharmacy profession. We were extremely lucky to get him back from the United States."

"With the help of senior lecturers, David Newby and Jenny Schneider, Shane took an outline for the program and in five months had to generate a degree structure that fed down to every lecture and laboratory session,"

"The way that the other existing pharmacy programs judge us is by way that our staff present themselves and Shane Scott has provided an excellent example in that regard. He's left the program in very good shape and we subsequently have a strong field of candidates for his replacement," he said.

By mid year Professor Shane Scott will return to America to become Chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice for the Chicago College of Pharmacy at Midwestern University.

"Leaving the staff I have is difficult and has been a hard decision to make. We all worked very hard to get the program up and running," says Professor Shane Scott.

A barbeque will be held in the courtyard of the Medical Sciences Building at the University of Newcastle at one o'clock on Wednesday the 26th of April.

For media interviews, please contact Head, School of Biomedical Sciences, Professor Michael Calford on 492 15614 or 0439 421781
Professor and Foundation Chair of Pharmacy, Shane Scott on 040933941