2011 Outstanding Alumnus Award Winner
The UT College of Pharmacy Alumni Association is pleased to honor Dick R. Gourley with the Outstanding Alumnus Award. The award is the alumni association’s highest honor given in recognition of service to the college and community; leadership in local, state, or national health or health-related organization; and teaching or research.
The first UT alum to serve as dean of the College of Pharmacy, Dr. Gourley, a native of Paducah, Ky., became fascinated with pharmacy as a high school freshman. He would ride his bike to the corner drugstore and stay for hours soaking up the atmosphere. “It was an exciting place to be because they helped people there,” he says. After participation in a pre-pharmacy program his senior year of high school, Gourley became hooked.
For more than 40 years, he dedicated his life to helping others expand the profession. Gourley received his pre-pharmacy at UT Knoxville, where he played varsity baseball. In 1969, he earned his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy, and in 1970, his doctor of pharmacy from UT Memphis. His first professional job was at Mercer University Southern College of Pharmacy, where he was an assistant professor of clinical pharmacy. He served as dean and provost at Mercer before joining UTHSC in 1989.
As dean of the pharmacy college, Dr. Gourley can’t wait to see “a dream come true” with completion of the College of Pharmacy building at the end of this year. The new building might be one of his largest undertakings yet, but Dr. Gourley is no stranger to mammoth-sized projects. The former chairman of the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties also played a pivotal role in the expansion of the college with the opening of a second campus in Knoxville and establishment of Clinical Education Centers in Chattanooga, Kingsport, and Nashville.
The co-founder and former president of the International Foundation for Pharmacy Education will be the first to tell you about the college’s leadership in pharmacy education, practice, and research and its continued rank as one of the nation’s top 20 pharmacy schools as reported by U.S. News and World Report magazine. “The partnership between medicine and pharmacy is essential and has never been more important than it is today,” says Gourley. “The pharmacist has become instrumental in our lives in helping the patient understand the medications, any side effects, and how the therapy might help them get better.”
Dr. Gourley is just as passionate about building model trains and dollhouses. He’s built close to 50 dollhouses for children of friends and family, including his daughter Kristin. His wife, Greta, and others can vouch that he is also quite the chef when it comes to Chinese cuisine.
An example of following your passion, Dr. Gourley encourages others to not only do the same, but “also to do great things for others.”
View Past Pharmacy Award Winners