College is where many people meet their life partner. That has been the case for multiple students whose lives intersected at the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy. Meet two of our “sweetheart” couples!
Karlee and Bryce Andry
Class of 2024 Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students Karlee (Boyle) and Bryce Andry met at a Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International recruitment meeting during 2020 Engagement Week, an orientation course for first-year PharmD students.
“We began attending the same church and studying together,” said Karlee. “COVID-19 restrictions strengthened our bond, and we quickly became more than friends.”
In fact, you might say there was a psychic connection. “We would come to class unintentionally wearing matching clothing several times each semester. We got more than a few comments about our excellent coordination skills,” said Karlee.
The duo married in September 2022, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa – halfway between their hometowns of Janesville, Iowa, and Eldridge, Iowa. They enjoy traveling, reading, being active, and participating in church activities. “We’re looking forward to graduation next year and a new chapter in our marriage as nonstudents,” said Bryce.
Brandon Patterson and Yuexin Tang
Brandon Patterson, ‘13 PhD, and Yuexin Tang, ‘14 PhD, were introduced in the fall of 2009 through the College’s pharmaceutical socioeconomics program. They began dating in 2011 and became engaged in 2014, when Patterson moved to Philadelphia. The pair was married three times! The official marriage was in February 2015 at a courthouse near their current home in Northern New Jersey, the second was with Patterson’s family in Austin, Texas, the following August, and the final wedding took place in Beijing, China, during January of 2016. They have three daughters: twins Corina and Kayla (5), and Natalie (3).
Patterson is director, Global Compound Market Access Leader, Vaccines at Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, while Tang serves as director, Worldwide HEOR Hematology at Bristol Myers Squibb. Patterson also is a member of the College’s Genesis Board.
“I think supporting the next generation of pharmacists and pharmacy-focused researchers is very important,” he said. “Mentorship and encouragement are valuable to everyone, but especially those beginning their career journeys.”
Jobs and family keep them busy.
“Before the pandemic, we did a lot of traveling. Now we do whatever our kids do, which is a lot of things like swimming, dancing, and hanging out with friends,” said Patterson.
Favorite memories from the College include attending a graduate seminar during Halloween dressed in Angry Birds t-shirts and beaks made of stapled paper, and time spent with their program’s graduate-student community at former department head Bernard Sorofman’s home each Thanksgiving.