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UAMS College of Pharmacy students at this year's scholarship awards ceremony. Image by Evan Lewis

2024 College of Pharmacy Scholarships Touch on Past, Present and Future

Nov. 25, 2024 | Scholarships represent a financial leg up for any student, but they also represent something more: the journeys of those who came before, and the hopes they invest in those who come after them. This year, two new scholarships created for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy have those legacies in mind.

In September, during the college’s annual scholarship awards ceremony, Dean Cindy Stowe, Pharm.D., announced newly created scholarships. Among them are the Stephanie Goodart O’Neal Scholarship and the Charles M. West Leadership Excellence Award scholarship.

“The pharmacy profession in Arkansas is a unique and inclusive community unlike any other, which makes scholarships even more special for our students to receive,” Stowe said. “We have nearly 55 distinct scholarships in the College of Pharmacy thanks to a wide and diverse network of donors. Scholarships have helped fuel generations of pharmacists, and thanks to generous alumni, they will help fuel many more.”

Generous donors make these scholarship awards possible, helping pharmacy students continue their education and provide more of a financial cushion during their time in school.

Stephanie Goodart O’Neal Scholarship

Stephanie Goodart O’Neal, P.D., Class of 1974, spent her career as a pharmacist in Wynne, Jonesboro and Forrest City, with a statewide leadership role. Now retired, she created a scholarship for pharmacy students this year as a way of giving back.

“I’ve always tried to support UAMS since I graduated, and I’ve been real involved in pharmacy until I retired,” Goodart O’Neal said. “I just have always been supportive of the college, so I wanted to give back to my profession and decided I would establish a scholarship.”

The Stephanie Goodart O’Neal scholarship is a $2,000 scholarship awarded to a pharmacy student or students selected by the College of Pharmacy Awards Committee. Earlier this year, third-year pharmacy student Maddie Butera was named its first recipient.

Goodart O’Neal was only the second woman to serve as president of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association’s (APA) board of directors. In addition to her eight years on the board, she also served a six-year appointment to the Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy. She said she hopes the scholarship will serve as an example for female pharmacists to aim high in their profession.

“There’s a lot of ladies out there who are working, and doing what they do,” Goodart O’Neal said. “It’s getting better, but when I came along, there just weren’t a lot of options to be involved in leadership, to do anything extra for the profession. Getting women involved in leadership has been a big passion of mine.”

As a pharmacy student, Goodart O’Neal received a scholarship that paid for most of her tuition. Although her family lived well enough, she said, they had young children and “there just wasn’t much money to go around” by the time she enrolled in pharmacy school. The financial relief from the scholarship was a huge help, and she wanted to share that feeling with others.

“I remember how much I appreciated that scholarship; how much it meant to me,” she said. “So, that’s another reason I created a scholarship. Pay it forward, pay it back. Either way.”

Charles M. West Leadership Excellence Award

Good friends like to plan surprises for one another, but it’s not every day the surprise is an endowed scholarship named in their honor. Gene Graves, Pharm.D., Class of 1969, and Charles West, P.D., Class of 1963, met more than 50 years ago as colleagues and became fast friends.  Both men are known for their roles helping shape pharmacy policy at the state and national level.

Their friendship began in the early 1970s, when Graves was on faculty at UAMS and West owned Kavanaugh Pharmacy not far from the Little Rock campus, where Graves also worked part-time. West, already active in the APA, convinced Graves to write a column for its monthly journal. From the 1970s through the 1990s, West served as president and then executive vice president for both the APA and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA). Graves also served as president for both organizations during that time. Together, they also co-founded the National Home Infusion Association in 1991, the first organization of its kind.

Originally, West proposed jointly funding a scholarship with both of their names, but Graves funded it himself and surprised West by naming it in his honor. Graves said that he wanted both of their names on the scholarship at first but changed his mind because of his gratitude to West both as a friend and as a major influence on his pharmacy career.

“I wanted to do it for him, because I owe him so much,” Graves said.

“The fact that Gene funded this scholarship is quite overwhelming to me,” West said. “He is such a dear friend and a pharmacy leader in his own right.”

The Charles M. West Leadership Excellence Award scholarship is a $1,000 scholarship awarded to an outstanding pharmacy student based on their leadership qualities. Pilar Simmons, a third-year pharmacy student, was named the scholarship’s first recipient this year.

Graves wants people to know West’s role in helping make Arkansas a pharmacy leader.

“A lot of people have no idea how much he’s done for pharmacy on a national basis,” Graves said. “Organizations across the country look to Arkansas and what we’ve done here legislatively and professionally, and Charlie was the guy that everybody looked to for advice on how to get their states to accomplish the kinds of things that Arkansas did.”

West said that when he graduated pharmacy school, he wasn’t thinking about leadership roles or changing the profession and instead was more focused on starting his career. However, after being encouraged to take leading roles with both the APA and NCPA, he became a strong advocate for the profession and moved to Washington, D.C. to help shape policy at the national level. Now retired and living in Little Rock, West said that pharmacy in Arkansas remains strong.

“All credit goes to the pharmacists. They realized that when they get involved, they can make a difference,” West said. “When you really have something for them to rally behind, they will rally — and Arkansas pharmacists do it better than anybody.”

Both men strongly encouraged pharmacy students to consider becoming leaders.

“I hope this would inspire people to understand the importance of being involved in the associated organizations that represent the profession, and Charlie West is the best example of that of anybody I know,” Graves said.

“When [pharmacists] realize that they can be a force to be reckoned with, they will step forward and do it,” West said. “That would be my message to the young people: just get involved. Make a difference.”

The UAMS College of Pharmacy educates pharmacists to be medication experts and community leaders. Scholarships are critically important for these students. Investing in a scholarship makes a degree in pharmacy more affordable and accessible, recognizes deserving students for their hard work and helps keep highly qualified students in Arkansas and at UAMS.