Thomas Ho, '70 PhD and Randy Juhl, '72 BSPh, '74 MS, '76 PhD, have been named the 2021 recipients of the Osterhaus Medal for Lifetime Achievement and will be honored at a ceremony during Homecoming festivities in October. The Osterhaus Medal is presented annually to one or more individuals who have made extraordinary achievements in the pharmacy profession and is the premier award given by the College. It is named after the former owner of Osterhaus Pharmacy in Maquoketa, Iowa, Robert Osterhaus, '52 BSPh, and his wife Ann Osterhaus.
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Tom Ho received his PhD from the UI College of Pharmacy in 1970 in the Medicinal and Natural Products Chemistry program under major professor Joseph Cannon. Ho also holds a chemistry degree from Central College in Pella, Iowa. His pharmaceutical career began when a position became available at Fort Dodge Labs in the Department of Formulation/Analytical Labs based on a recommendation from former Associate Dean John Lach. Ho was named head of the department after only one year. His work experiences also include working for Beecham Labs and Rachelle Labs. His job responsibilities began in product development and then he was given additional responsibilities in compliance, QA/QC at Rachelle Labs. In 1985, a start-up company named Watson Labs wanted to set up the company in Southern California. Ho was one of the groups of employees hired to lay out the groundwork. His responsibilities included the regulatory, compliance, QA/QC, and technical aspects of the operation. Initially, with internal product development and along the way, the acquisition of products and other small pharmaceutical companies, Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. expanded from an empty building into a campus of five buildings. The company went public in 1993 and continued growing to become one of the leading pharmaceutical companies engaged in the development, manufacturing, and distribution of generic and branded generic products. It has manufacturing sites and offices in other states, including Puerto Rico, and a subsidiary in China. Ho retired in 2000 but remained with Watson as a consultant until 2005. As a consultant, he worked on special projects and assisted the company's China subsidiary to get U.S. FDA approval to import Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) to the U.S.
Ho met his wife, Hedy, at the UI College of Pharmacy in 1966. She was enrolled in the master's degree residency program in hospital pharmacy with a grant from the Pharmaceutical Services under John Lach and Associate Professor Emeritus Ting-Fong Chin. The couple resides in Irving, California. |
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Randy Juhl is a distinguished service professor emeritus and dean emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. A native of Forest City, Iowa he received an AA from Waldorf University in 1968 and a BS, MS, and PhD in pharmacy from the University of Iowa in 1972, 1974, and 1976 respectively. Juhl began his career with academic appointments at Ferris State University where he served as an assistant professor and director of the school's clinical pharmacy programs. In 1979, he moved to the University of Pittsburgh to serve as chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, and in 1986, he was named dean of the School of Pharmacy, a position he held for 16 years until 2002. During his tenure as dean, the school converted its entry-level practitioner degree program from the Bachelor's level to PharmD, instituted advanced practice residencies in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and other partners, developed an innovative clinical scientist PhD program, and increased its endowment more than tenfold. In 2002, Juhl left the deanship and joined the University of Pittsburgh's senior leadership as vice chancellor for Research Conduct and Compliance. The University of Pittsburgh named Juhl its Distinguished Service Professor of Pharmacy in 2008, the first to be so honored in the School of Pharmacy's 130-year history. |