Senior Celebration & Awards Ceremony Recap | 2025
The University of Utah College of Pharmacy has some of the best and brightest pharmacy students in the nation! To celebrate the outstanding achievements of our graduating class, we gathered for the annual Senior Celebration and Awards Banquet. Please enjoy this review of the awards that were given during that special evening.
Celebrating Outstanding Achievements: PharmD Class of 2025
Academic Excellence Award: Rachel Fagergren
Recognizing the student with the highest cumulative GPA/academic standing in the graduating class.
Distinguished Professionalism Award: Haley Cain
Recognizing a graduating student who has demonstrated excellence in professionalism, within their community and/or with patients.
“A great pharmacy leader is someone who can impart knowledge as well as empathize with others and help guide them to find critical answers in the resources around them. When Haley did her first rotation here at the Orthopedic Center, whenever she encountered a new medication or medical situation, she went out of her way to research it and find out all the information that she could on it. She was very approachable to other professionals from pharmacists, nursing staff and providers as well as to her patients. She was able to clearly and concisely impart useful information to each of them as well as to her patients with a friendly, positive and knowledgeable demeanor. She brought lots of hands-on experience from her Drug Information Center experience and made a positive impact on many of our pharmacy and hospital staff. I'm confident that Haley will make large contributions to the future of pharmacy as a leader because of her inquisitive mind and her outgoing charismatic personality.”
Distinguished Leadership Award: Landon Welch
Recognizing a graduating student who has demonstrated excellence in leadership professionally, within their community and/or with patients.
“Landon is not only a leader by title but by action. He consistently strives to uplift those around him, fostering an environment of collaboration, mentorship, and professional growth. His passion for pharmacy is evident in the way he advocates for his peers, supports the development of future pharmacists, and contributes to the advancement of the field. His dedication to moving the profession forward is unwavering, and his leadership has already made a significant impact on his classmates and colleagues.”
Distinguished Service Award: Rachel Fagergren
Recognizing a graduating student who has demonstrated excellence in service professionally, within their community and/or with patients.
“Rachel is an incredible example of service to others. She has made numerous trips to Africa to improve healthcare and improve the quality of life for underserved persons. She is a lesson to all of us for what it means to be a professional and a humanitarian.”
Outstanding Pharmacy Student Award: Ary Vadipour
Recognizing a graduating student who excels in the study of Pharmacy.
“Ary has been an outstanding student in every way that I have been able to observe their activities. They excelled in mastering concepts in Drug Lit I and II, and they also excelled as a TA in Drug Lit during the subsequent year. Ary was also hired to work as a research assistant in the DRRC when we worked on a special assignment to conduct a systematic review of evidence for the use of hormones and hormone analogues in the treatment of pediatric patients with gender dysphoria. The assignment contributed to the work of a legislative task force. ARY’s contribution to the project was diligent and consistent, and they have even taken the lead on authoring one of the papers that is emerging from this work. Ary is an excellent communicator, in both written and verbal communication. I wholeheartedly recommend Ary for this award.”
Excellence in Clinical Communication Award: Halie Anderson
Recognizing a graduating student who has shown high academic achievement, being in the top 25% of their class, and who possesses outstanding verbal and written clinical communication skills.
“Halie and I have had several interactions during her staffing shifts performing medication reconciliation at Huntsman Cancer Institute, and her notes and documentation are concise, accurate, and professional. She is able to communicate with her preceptors quickly, naturally, and professionally to convey the necessary information in an efficient manner, and her grasp of what is important information and what information doesn’t need to be included helps her perform her tasks extremely efficiently, above the level I expect of typical P4 interns.”
Excellence in the Study of Herbal Medicines Award: Samantha Maestas
Recognizing a graduating student who excelled in Natural Medicines.
“Samantha demonstrated clinical curiosity regarding herbals and always asked insightful questions. She always requested feedback on assignments to find out what she could do to improve her work. At the annual poster session, she presented an excellent overview of studies evaluating kombucha use in persons with diabetes. She also had the highest overall grades in the herbals class.”
Viatris Excellence in Pharmacy Award: Jace Anderson
Recognizing a graduating student who demonstrates high professional motivation, and who possesses a unique ability to communicate drug information.
“The solid organ transplant team had the pleasure of having Jace Anderson on rotation during an incredibly busy time of the year. Despite this, Jace showed up to rotation every day motivated and excited to learn. He implemented a process of self-directed learning for topics he didn't fully understand and recognized when it was appropriate to reach out to preceptors for further clarification on more in-depth topics. He had excellent communication with his preceptors regarding rotation conflicts, which helped to minimally impact his learning experience. Jace independently provided post-transplant medication education to new kidney transplant recipients and was able to follow along with these patients and see them again in clinic. This longitudinal interaction was appreciated by our patients and helped ease them into managing their new complex medication regimen, all while having a friendly face and consistent support. Additionally, Jace provided an RN-directed lunch and learn presentation on infection prophylaxis following solid organ transplant. This was a huge scope of information to tackle in an hour, and he went above and beyond his kidney-specific rotation to include considerations across all types of organ transplant, looking into new protocols and primary literature. He successfully executed an excellent conversational and story-telling presentation which made the information easy to follow and understand. Our nursing colleagues interacted throughout the presentation and were very grateful for the comprehensive information, even coming to find him in the transplant office afterward to thank him for the presentation. Jace Anderson operates with a high level of professional motivation and excels in communicating complex medication information to not only patients, but also multidisciplinary peers, which takes a variety of approaches. His communication style is definitely a strength in his clinical repertoire, and will continue to serve him, his clinical team, and his patients throughout his career.”
Celebrating Outstanding Preceptors!
Our students would not be successful without the incredible support of our preceptors. Experiential education provides hands-on learning and truly prepares students for the world and the critical role pharmacists place in healthcare. Please join us in honoring three outstanding preceptors for the 2024-25 academic year.
APPE Preceptor of the Year: Alan Hall
IPPE Preceptor of the Year: Sam Marshall
Faculty Preceptor of the Year: Jessica Carey
To learn about precepting with the University of Utah College of Pharmacy, please contact Experiential.Education@pharm.utah.edu.
Celebrating Talented PhD Students!
Wolf Prize: Emily Tippetts
Emily Tippetts has been chosen to receive this year’s Wolf Prize, which is the highest award the College of Pharmacy has to bestow upon a high achieving PhD student each year.
Fox Award: Debika Ghatak
Debika Ghatak was nominated by her fellow PhD students for the 2025 Fox Award, which was established in 2000 in memory of Dr. Jeffrey Fox and recognizes an outstanding graduate student each year.
AAPS Best Poster Awards: Shannuo Li and Jiahui Li
Members of Dr. Kopecek’s lab, Shannuo Li and Jiahui Li, received AAPS Best Poster Awards in September of 2024 and were invited to submit a short story about their research.
AAPS Newsletter Feature: Tanya Chhibber
Tanya Chhibber will be featured in the Topical and Transdermal newsletter of AAPS for her work and she presented at the PanAmerican Society for pigment cell research.
Best Poster Award: Neetu Singh and Tianxiao Zhang
During the 19th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Drug Delivery Systems in February 2025, Neetu Singh and Tianxiao Zhang received the Best Poster award along with a recent alumni D. Christopher Radford.