2018 Distinguished Service to Pharmacy Award Winner
Dr. Phelps retired in July 2018, after a 36-year career with the University Tennessee Health Science Center’s College of Pharmacy.
Dr. Phelps was at the forefront of pediatric pharmacy when she obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from Samford University in 1979. She received a PharmD from the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy in 1982 and subsequently completed a pediatric subspecialty residency at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, where she would continue to shape this specialized area of pharmacy. She joined the faculty at UTHSC College of Pharmacy in 1983 and was named the associate dean of Academic Affairs in 2009. For more than a decade, she served as director of Experiential Education.
Dr. Phelps is an elected Fellow of ACCP, APhA, and PPAG, and is a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist. She has held elected offices in AACP, APhA, ASHP, and has served on the board of directors of ASPEN and PPAG. She is a member of the Pharmacy Academy of the National Academies of Practice and is a past chair. She received the 2009 Tennessee Society of Hospital Pharmacy’s Distinguished Service Award, the PPAG 2011 Helms Award for Excellence in Pediatric Pharmacy Practice, and the 2013 ACCP Educator Award. She has received numerous teaching awards, including the 2016 University of Tennessee Alumni Association Teaching Award.
Dr. Phelps served as the UTHSC College of Pharmacy faculty advisor to the APhA-ASP chapter for almost 25 years. She was honored in 1999 with the APhA-Academy of Student Pharmacists Outstanding Chapter Advisor Award and with the Linwood F. Tice Friend of APhA-ASP Award in 2016. During her time as advisor, UTHSC had seven national officers, including three national APhA-ASP presidents, and the UTHSC APhA-ASP chapter consistently received national and regional awards.
Dr. Phelps has participated in the education of five post-doctoral fellows and 70 pediatric pharmacy residents. She is has served as the primary editor of “The Teddy Bear Book: Pediatric Injectable Drugs” since 1983 and is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Dr. Phelps has published 100 manuscripts and book chapters, which focus on pediatric pharmacotherapy.
View Past Pharmacy Award Winners