At the end of each spring and fall semester, University of Iowa (UI) College of Pharmacy Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students identify faculty members who have encouraged, mentored, listened, and been outstanding educators as their choice for Class Teacher of the Year (one each for first-, second-, and third-year classes). The annual award was established to acknowledge the importance of student opinion and ensure the recognition has meaning for students. For the 2024-25 academic year, Jeff Reist, Erika Ernst, and Matt Cantrell have been selected award recipients!
Jeff Reist
Class of 2028 Teacher of the Year
Jeff Reist is associate professor emeritus and earned his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy at the UI College of Pharmacy and a PharmD from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. Reist practiced at UI Health Care in the Department of Family Medicine Geriatric Clinic, where he was a member of an interprofessional team specializing in the care of older adults, prior to returning to his alma mater as a faculty member in 2003. Until his retirement in June, he directed the college’s Pharmacy Practice Learning Center.
Reist served as a preceptor to many pharmacy students and as a teacher employed a bottom-up approach, focusing on the needs and goals of those he mentored. His enthusiasm for guiding the future of the profession is evident from the numerous teaching awards he received, including the UI Hubbard-Walder Award for Excellence in Teaching. Reist also was honored with the 2024 Iowa Pharmacy Association Thomas R. Temple Mentorship Award, which recognizes an individual who has mentored, supported, and sponsored pharmacists in a transformative way.
Student comments included:
Dr. Reist was always pushing us to be better and truly cared about our learning and knowledge. His leadership, dedication, and genuine care for students have made a lasting impact. Dr. Reist’s passion (for) teaching and passing on his knowledge to the rest of us was unbelievable and he will truly be missed after retirement. He increased my interest of pharmacy.
Erika Ernst
Class of 2027 Teacher of the Year
Associate Professor Erika Ernst’s research and clinical practice interests are infectious diseases and appropriate use of antimicrobial agents. She is part of the UI College of Pharmacy’s Pharmacy Practice and Science Department. Ernst also was named the college’s 2021 Collegiate Teacher of the Year by her peers and is a previous recipient of the college’s Faculty Preceptor Excellence Award and the UI Improving our Workplace Award.
Ernst has been widely published and has received grants from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacist Foundation, Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists, and the pharmaceutical industry – among others – to study infectious disease-related topics. She earned her PharmD from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles and stayed on for a residency. Ernst then completed a fellowship in Infectious Disease Pharmacy Practice at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Pharmacy.
Student comments included:
Dr. Ernst always put students first and made sure we had all the resources we needed. She kept the lectures engaging and made the class laugh. I can tell how passionate and knowledgeable Dr. Ernst is in Infectious Disease, and that made me more engaged when going to lecture. She teaches hard material but she teaches it very well.
Matt Cantrell
Class of 2026 Teacher of the Year
Part of the UI College of Pharmacy’s Pharmacy Practice and Science Department, Clinical Associate Professor Matthew Cantrell provides didactic and experiential education in the pharmacy curriculum. Cantrell has a BS from Mount Mercy University and a PharmD from the UI College of Pharmacy. He also is a clinical pharmacy specialist and PGY1 pharmacy residency program preceptor at the Iowa City VA Health Care System, where he completed a Primary Care Pharmacy Practice Residency. Among his clinical responsibilities are anticoagulation, formulary management, and primary care. Cantrell has precepted for research and global health rotations focused on underserved populations and earned a UI College of Pharmacy Faculty Preceptor Excellence Award.
Active in state and national organizations, he previously chaired the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Geriatric Practice and Research Network and was the 2013 Iowa Pharmacy Association Distinguished Young Pharmacist Award recipient. Additionally, Cantrell won a UI Research Day award.
Student comments included:
Dr. Cantrell was a superb course coordinator for the oncology IPC and helped make my success possible. He taught in the ambulatory care elective which I believe set me up to be successful in APPEs (Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences). He went out of his way to make sure we were updated on what’s going on and was so kind and compassionate. Dr. Cantrell emphasizes important aspects, and I walk out of each lecture confident. He is always advocating for his students and doing everything he can to make sure they are learning.