Pharmacy professor honored for biotechnology teaching

Tucson, Ariz.—Laurence Hurley, professor in the UA College of Pharmacy and associate director of the BIO5 Institute, received the Paul R. Dawson Biotechnology Award in Chicago July 21.

The award is presented annually by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy to an individual for contributions to contemporary teaching and scholarship in biotechnology. It is endowed by Amgen in memory of former vice president of marketing and sales, Paul R. Dawson, a staunch supporter of education in biotechnology.

Of the three major awards the association bestows annually, Hurley has received two: the Dawson and the Volwiler Research Achievement Award, which he received in 1989.

“Dr. Hurley is a treasure to our college and pharmacy education, and a beacon to all faculty and students,” says J. Lyle Bootman, dean of college. “Not only is Dr. Hurley a brilliant scientist who moves his discoveries beyond the lab to translation and to patients in need, but he is also extraordinarily adept at translating his personal commitment to excellence to the larger sphere of the university and the people it serves.”

Hurley is recognized worldwide as an accomplished and innovative medicinal chemist and leader in molecular cancer therapeutics and biotechnology. He holds the Howard J. Schaeffer Chair in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the College of Pharmacy.