• The nominee must be widely recognized for their transformational discoveries or innovative approaches impacting a pharmacy-related scientific field.
• The nominee must have an academic rank above assistant professor and have their primary appointment in a College of Pharmacy department.
• The nominee must have been a Contact PI on a prior or active, peer-reviewed, national-level grant.
• The nominee must not have received the James Halpert Award for Research Excellence in any prior year.

The primary criterion for the award is the significance of research contributions made by the candidate in their field. The novelty and innovativeness of the science, the track record of the individual including peer-reviewed publications, and the potential of the scientific discoveries to transform a nominee’s field are important considerations. The selection of awardees will be made by the College of Pharmacy Research Affairs Committee and presented at the State of the College event in mid-December.

Self-nominations are allowed.

Applications must include:

• A letter of nomination for the candidate. The letter should describe the importance of the candidate's research contributions and the overall significance and impact of the candidate’s work. Self-nominations are allowed.
• Additional letters of nomination and support are allowed but not required. 
• The nominee’s curriculum vitae including a complete list of peer-reviewed publications and grant funding.

• 2024: Gregory Thatcher
• 2023: Hongmin Li
• 2022: Chris Hulme
• 2021: Wei Wang
• 2020: Georg Wondrak
• 2019: Donna Zhang

Students, faculty and staff are allowed to submit nominations.

The recipient should:

• Demonstrate service and commitment to the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy and to the students at this institution
• Support and show responsiveness towards the needs of student pharmacists
• Impact the development of leadership and professionalism
• Promote the advancement of the profession 
• Serve as a positive motivation for students and faculty
• Unselfishly serve the profession

The Theodore G. Tong Distinguished Leadership and Service Award Committee will select the recipient.

Applications must include:

• Completion of nomination form.
• A current CV to the Awards Committee for review

• 2025 - Elizabeth Hall-Lipsy
• 2024 - Ashley Campbell
• 2023 - Barb Collins
• 2022 - Chris Edwards
• 2020 - Amy Kennedy
• 2019 - Jeannie Lee
• 2018 - Ivo Abraham

• The nominee must be a tenure eligible Assistant Professor with a primary appointment in a College of Pharmacy department.
• The nominee must not have received the A. Jay Gandolfi New Investigator Award any prior year.

The primary criterion for the award is the level of excellence and originality of the research conducted by the candidate. Independence of thought, originality of approach, clarity of communication, and the impact of the work on the candidate’s field are important considerations. Particular consideration will be given to first/corresponding/senior author publications with high impact and to accomplishments made while during their appointment at the UA COP. The selection of awardees will be made by the College of Pharmacy Research Affairs Committee and presented at the State of the College event in mid-December.

Applications must include:

• A letter of nomination for the candidate. The letter should describe the importance of the candidate's research contributions, the overall significance and impact of the work, and the candidate’s role in the manuscripts provided with the application. Self-nominations are allowed.
• Additional letters of nomination and support are allowed but not required.
• The nominee’s curriculum vitae including a complete list of peer-reviewed publications and grant funding.
• The three most significant peer-reviewed manuscripts authored by the candidate (sent as separate PDF documents).

• 2024: Rui Xiong
• 2023: Abhi Date
• 2022: Jianqin Lu
• 2021: Jim Galligan
• 2020: Jason Karnes
• 2019: Jun Wang

The recipient must be a faculty member (>50% appointment) and a Director or above at The University of Arizona R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy (the “College”) in good standing for a minimum of five (5) years. Past recipients are not eligible to receive this award for five (5) years. 

The recipient should demonstrate, as defined below, exceptional and unique leadership service within the College in the past academic year or 12 months. They also must meet the criteria in the area of Excellence in teaching, or in area of Significant accomplishments in research.

Exceptional and unique leadership service within the college is defined as:

• Substantial participation and contribution in College service
• Contributions that support or advance organizational goals and priorities within the College
• Service in initiating and developing new initiatives
• Evidence of influence and/or impact—the positive difference the nominee's contributions made

Excellence in teaching is defined as:

• High expectations for student learning
• Alignment of intended outcomes, teaching practices and assessment methods
• Innovation and experimentation in teaching with a view to enhancing student learning
• Commitment to continuous improvement in teaching
• Support/mentoring of colleagues relative to teaching
• Organizing or overseeing new courses or revitalizing existing courses

Significant accomplishments in research is defined as:

• Sustained scholarly activity
• Research grant funding
• Consistent dissemination of research outcomes of scholarly work in one's field

Applications must include:

• A letter of nomination for the candidate (3-page limit). The letter should succinctly describe the candidate's research contributions and address the review criteria as detailed above under Criteria and Selection. Self-nominations are encouraged.
• Additional letters of nomination and support are allowed, but not required.
• The nominee’s current full curriculum vitae, including a complete list of peer-reviewed publications and grant funding.

• 2024: Elizabeth Hall-Lipsy
• 2023: Catilin Cameron
• 2022: Xinxin Ding
• 2021: Maryam Fazel
• 2020: Janet Cooley

Faculty members whose primary responsibilities are teaching, research, and/or service, are eligible.

Candidates will have demonstrated significant research, educational, and/or service-related efforts or initiatives that transmitted and enhanced knowledge and/or outcomes to the public/populations within Arizona and beyond. The Faculty Council will be responsible for submitting the name of the award recipient to the Dean’s office by late November. The award will be presented to the awardee at the State of the College and Awards Program. The awardee will receive a commemorative plaque. Additionally, the awardees name will be added to two perpetual plaques (one located in the student offices of each campus, Tucson, and Phoenix).

Outside community organizations, programs, and faculty and students can make nominations. 

Applications must include:

• A letter that specifically describes how the nominee’s record in the area of service and outreach goes beyond expectations and provided tangible positive to the community locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally. The Faculty Council may ask for a copy of the nominee’s CV after being nominated.

• 2024: Michael Katz
• 2023: Maryam Fazel
• 2021: Catilin Cameron

Professional faculty or faculty member including faculty mentors, senior project advisors, Resiprep program mentors, organization advisors, etc. can be nominated.

The Faculty Council will be responsible for submitting the name of the award recipient to the Dean’s office by mid-March. The award will be presented to the awardee at the End of Year Picnic in May. The awardee will receive a commemorative plaque. Additionally, the awardees name will be added to two perpetual plaques (one located in the student offices of each campus, Tucson, and Phoenix).

Students, faculty, or staff may make nominations. Submit nominations by March 15. 

Applications must include:

• A letter that clearly describes the nominee's record of providing tangible development opportunities to the groups below that show how these contributions lead to increased performance and job satisfaction:
  • students,
  • faculty,
  • and/or staff,
• Efforts to improve the College of Pharmacy environment with respect to mentoring and professional development opportunities.
• The Faculty Council may request the CV of the nominee after being nominated. 

• 2023-2024: Zelieann Craig
• 2022-2023: Haining Zhu
• 2021-2022: Catharine Smith
• 2020-2021: James Galligan

• 2023-2024: Bonnie LaFleur
• 2022-2023: David "Rhys" Axon
• 2021-2022: Xinxin Ding
• 2020-2021: Bernard Futcher, John Regan