MCPHS Alumni Shine in Annual New Hampshire Pharmacy Awards Ceremony

Nine winners at this year’s New Hampshire Pharmacy Awards were alumni of Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS).

Each year select pharmacists in New Hampshire are recognized as standouts in their field at an event co-sponsored by the New Hampshire Pharmacists Association, New Hampshire Society of Health System Pharmacists, New Hampshire Board of Pharmacy, and Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS). This year, due to the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic, the annual New Hampshire Pharmacy Awards ceremony took place via Zoom on December 15th.

Nine out of the 14 award recipients were MCPHS alumni. With their graduation years ranging from 1970 to 2016, the distinguished history and reputation of MCPHS’s pharmacy programs were well represented.

The celebrated MCPHS alumni included Lorraine Radick, David LaCoste, Namone Pike, Christopher Rochon, Ronald Coll, John Croteau, Wayne Dutch, Rear Admiral Arthur J. Lawrence Jr., and Judith Ronshagan.

Lorraine Radick, BSP ’79, MS, and David LaCoste, PharmD ’77, were honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is presented to pharmacists who have committed their life’s work to the state of New Hampshire and have a record of outstanding service.

Namone (Khamphavong) Pike, PharmD ’06, received the Excellence in Innovation Award. This award recognizes pharmacists licensed in New Hampshire who have exhibited innovation that has positively impacted patient care and/or the profession of pharmacy.

The most recent MCPHS graduate, Christopher Rochon, PharmD ‘16, was presented with the Distinguished Young Pharmacist Award. This award, sponsored by Pharmacists Mutual Companies, is given to New Hampshire pharmacists who have practiced for 10 years or fewer and are involved in local and/or national pharmacy associations as well as community service. Dr. Rochon is involved with multiple pharmacy organizations and volunteer organizations, one of which is the Patient and Family Advisory Council for St. Joseph’s Hospital in Nashua. He has also exemplified leadership in his role as East Coast Pharmacist in Charge at PillPack by Amazon Pharmacy, which was co-founded by MCPHS alum, T. J. Parker, PharmD ‘12. Additionally, he serves as the site coordinator for Pillpack’s IPPE & APPE rotations, where he mentors MCPHS pharmacy students. “The reason I became a pharmacist in the first place is to give back to the community through contributions as one of the most accessible healthcare professionals,” he says. “To me, community means not only the people immediately around me or those with common experiences or interests, but [also] the public at large, whose resilience continues to leave me in awe every day.

MCPHS alumni comprised 70% of recipients who were given the 50-Year Gold Certificate. These recipients included Ronald Coll BSP, ‘70; John Croteau, BSP ‘70; Wayne Dutch, BSP ’70, PharmD ‘00; Rear Admiral Arthur J. Lawrence Jr., BSP ‘70; and Judith Ronshagan, MCPHS University Trustee Emeritus ‘70. The qualifications for this award are exemplified through the impressive career of Rear Admiral Arthur J. Lawrence Jr. Before his retirement, Admiral Lawrence served as the Assistant Surgeon General of the United States and as a career officer in the US Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps for more than 37 years. He was inspired to pursue the profession of pharmacy by his experience at Marshall’s Drug Store in Manchester, NH, where worked as a teenager with another 50-year Gold Certificate recipient, Wayne Dutch. Admiral Lawrence enrolled at MCPHS through the guidance of alum Jean Robitaille, BSP ‘63, who mentored him through the application and interview process. During his time at the University, he was active in the Student American Pharmacists Association, in which he served as a local, regional, and national officer. After a lifetime of public health service during which he served on multiple boards and won numerous awards, including the Distinguished Service Medal and the Surgeon General’s Meritorious Service Medal (each awarded three times), Admiral Lawrence returned to Manchester, NH, to continue his research in pharmacy, public health, and health organizational history.

Founded in 1823, MCPHS is the second-oldest university of pharmacy in the United States and has prepared more students for careers in pharmacy than any other university in the world. MCPHS offers a direct-entry PharmD program on its Boston, MA campus, and a 34-month accelerated PharmD program on its Worcester, MA and Manchester, NH campuses.

Interested in a career in pharmacy? Learn more about the MCPHS School of Pharmacy.