View Larger Image
Melanie Reinhardt, left, and Lanita White
College of Pharmacy Faculty Promoted, Celebrated
| The UAMS College of Pharmacy recently announced the promotions of two faculty members:
- Lanita White, Pharm.D., from assistant professor to associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice.
- Melanie Reinhardt, Pharm.D., from assistant professor to associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice.
“Dr. White’s quality of teaching is evidenced by her development of the 12th St. Health & Wellness Center, creativity in course development, and positive student evaluations of her teaching,” said Amy Franks, Pharm.D., associate professor and chair of the UAMS College of Pharmacy Department of Pharmacy Practice.
White’s teaching and service have been recognized through several awards, including the 2018 Chancellor’s Teaching Award for Society and Health Education Excellence, the 2016 Joycelyn Elders Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arkansas Medical, Dental, and Pharmaceutical Association, the 2015 UAMS Phenomenal Woman Award, and the 2014 Chancellor’s Award for Diversity and Inclusion.
The development of the 12th St. Center required significant commitment to developing relationships among internal and external groups. As center director, White also built relationships with them through community and advisory boards as well as the student board of directors. Under her leadership, engagement of these groups ensured that the center was true to its mission of providing a venue for no-cost, student-led interprofessional care for the adjacent medically underserved community, Franks said.
“Dr. Reinhardt is widely known as an educator of the highest quality,” Franks said. “Her kind, compassionate demeanor shines in the classroom and is exactly what our newly matriculated P1 students need as they begin the rigorous curriculum. Both the quantity and quality of her teaching are extraordinary among our faculty.”
During the most recent academic year, Reinhardt taught nearly 400 contact hours in courses housed within the Department of Pharmacy Practice and the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She demonstrates her dedication to her students by delivering a one-week short course so that students moving to UAMS’ Northwest Campus after their second professional year can enroll and complete the Advanced Compounding elective course during the summer before they move. The course was previously unavailable to them because the college’s students complete elective courses in their third professional year, and Reinhardt is located on the university’s Little Rock campus.
Franks said, “I will admit that I had concerns about the toll the course would take on the sole instructor of a very hands-on course, but as usual, Dr. Reinhardt cheerfully accepted the challenge and designed a five-day, 35-hour short course for these students. It was met with widespread enthusiasm and continues to enroll the maximum number of students each year.”
Reinhardt has received numerous honors for her teaching, including a 2019 UAMS Phenomenal Woman award; the Department of Pharmacy Practice Outstanding Faculty award from the graduating classes of 2008, 2014, and 2018; the 2015-16 Rho Chi Student Body Teacher of the Year award; and the 2008 Chancellor’s Teaching Award.