| May 15, 2001 |
Contact: Judith
T. Lunsford |
ATLANTA Ð The Atlanta Division of The Kroger Company has presented Mercer University Southern School of Pharmacy a check for $50,000 to establish the Kroger Endowed Professorship in Community Pharmacy.
"The Kroger Company and Mercer's Southern School of Pharmacy have a strong and synergistic relationship that revolves around pharmacy education, the pharmacy profession and patient care," said Hewitt (Ted) Matthews, Ph.D., dean of the School of Pharmacy. "The establishment of this Professorship demonstrates The Kroger Company's continuing commitment to excellence in pharmacy education at Mercer's School of Pharmacy."
Southern School of Pharmacy has had a longstanding relationship with The Kroger Company, which is the largest retail food company in the United States by total annual sales. The company has been in partnership with Mercer's Pharmacy School at all levels of its programs and curriculum.
Atlanta-area Kroger pharmacists serve as preceptors to fourth-year Mercer students as part of the Advanced Practice Experience. They also are guest lecturers and panel members, discussing with students topics related to retail pharmacy. Kroger also sponsors many student group activities.
The Kroger Company was the first chain pharmacy to join the School in providing community pharmacy residencies in Georgia. Now in its fourth year, the Mercer/Kroger residency provides opportunities to enhance patient care and strengthen the learning opportunities of pharmacy residents pursuing careers in community pharmacy.
While the Kroger Endowed Professorship represents one of the company's largest financial gifts to the University, The Kroger Company consistently has supported Mercer's pharmacy students and programs over the years through generous gifts to scholarships and endowment. It also has played a significant role in the success of the Mercer Pharmacy Classic, the annual golf tournament fund-raiser for the Pharmacy School, as the tournament's leading sponsor.
Ranked 18th among Fortune 500 companies, Kroger has more than 1,500 pharmacies, located in 31 states, and encompassing more than 60 major metropolitan areas. It's local division, headquartered in Atlanta, operates 158 pharmacies in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama, and employs more than 500 pharmacists and 700 technicians in these locations.
Located on the University's Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Campus in Atlanta, Mercer's Southern School of Pharmacy has 503 professional students. In 1981, the School became the first institution in the Southeast and the fifth in the nation to the offer the doctor of pharmacy degree as its sole professional degree. One of only two pharmacy schools in the state, the School today awards the doctor of pharmacy, the doctor of pharmacy/master of business administration, the doctor of philosophy in pharmaceutical sciences and the doctor of pharmacy/doctor of philosophy degrees.
Mercer University has been named one of the leading colleges and universities in the South by U.S. News & World Report for 11 consecutive years. With campuses in Macon and Atlanta, it is the only independent university of its size in the country to offer programs in liberal arts, business, engineering, education, medicine, pharmacy, law, theology and nursing. The University has an enrollment this year of 7,400 students.
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