UNC Celebrates School of Pharmacy No. 1 Ranking

Leaders from around the UNC campus gathered on Wednesday to honor students and faculty at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy, after the school was named the top pharmacy school in the country by US News and World Report. The School of Pharmacy was one of several graduate programs to receive high marks.

Dean Bob Blouin said at the event that one question has plagued him over the last few years when he would proudly tell people that the School of Pharmacy at UNC was number two in the entire country.

“We’re so proud. We’re the number two school of pharmacy in the country,” Blouin recalled. “And the very first question that I’d get is, ‘Well, who’s number one?”

Now Blouin can brag about being the top pharmacy school when talking with varying audiences, including donors.

The Eshelman School of Pharmacy got its namesake from one of those donors less than 18 months ago in the form of a $100 million gift from alumnus Dr. Fred Eshelman, who said he had a fairly simple message for Blouin before finalizing his donation.

“My recollection is it was a pretty short and tight interchange,” Eshelman told the students and faculty on Wednesday. “And it went something like this, ‘Dean, number one, get ‘er done.’”

Eshelman said that the work to get the School of Pharmacy at UNC into the top spot began long before his gift.

“It’s not something that happened overnight,” Eshelman said. “It did take a heck of a lot of work from an awful lot of very dedicated people and the leadership of the dean.

“And I think we’re so happy to have had Chancellor Folt come in during this time, because she has lent so much support to the school. And not just talking the talk, but she’s actually gotten behind a number of initiatives in a number of ways that have made life a lot easier for us.”

Blouin said the Eshelman gift did bring a lot more attention to the school and allowed it to explore new ventures.

“We went from, sort of, an opportunity of hope,” Blouin said, “to really the pursuit of opportunities with confidence.”

UNC Chancellor Carol Folt said that she appreciated that the gift allowed the school to invest in opportunities others may deem too risky.

“Great work, great science is a lot about taking a long shot,” Folt said. “And sometimes those long shots are not easy to fund, and yet those might be the ones that are most productive.

“And I really do applaud the fact that when [Eshelman] talked about it, it was also, ‘These have to be great, but you have to be willing sometimes to invest in people’s ideas and get that creative spirit.’”

Joe Moore graduated from the School of Pharmacy last year and is now an Eshelman Fellow planning the future of the Eshelman Institute of Innovation. He said that it is a unique opportunity to plan the future of an institute that he hopes will attract those with big ideas to UNC.

“And think, ‘There is talent there. There is leadership there. There is a vision there. And there is some of the raw materials – in the forms of students and also research capabilities – to execute whatever your idea is.’”