F L O R I D A' S C O L L E G E S O F P H A R M A C Y
The University of South Florida College of Pharmacy Huge strides for the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy USF Health’s pharmacy program made significant strides in the past year, continuing to advance quality education and student experience across Florida. It was clearly a year of highs and lows. Our biggest news: A generous $10 million gift boosted our efforts and gave us a new name – the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy. And our biggest hurdle: COVID-19. Like the rest of the world, our program had to make swift adjustments to keep our students on track while facing a global pandemic that forced us all to work and learn remotely. Across the past three months, we were reminded just how important our roles in pharmacy are – as part of health care teams, teachers, researchers and career pharmacists, and now as experts in the surge to treat and halt COVID-19. We are proud that our program prepares our students for the resiliency they just displayed. Through interdisciplinary experiences and collaborative approaches to patient care, we prepare them to work together with other health professionals during “normal” times, and this skill set was undoubtedly necessary during this pandemic. Here are some highlights of our past year. USF Announces $10 Million Gift to Name the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy In August 2019, the University of South Florida announced it had received a $10 million gift from Taneja Family Foundation to name the USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy. The donation, made through the USF Foundation, is the largest philanthropic gift to a pharmacy school in the
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state of Florida. As result of the gift, the Taneja College of Pharmacy aims to move into the new USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute facility in downtown Tampa, which opened in January 2020. Pharmacy students are tentatively expected to start classes there in fall of 2021. At a special announcement ceremony Aug. 16 inside the Amalie Arena in downtown Tampa, community and university leaders, students, friends and supporters heard news of the gift and its impact on the young pharmacy college. “This is a thrilling moment and it is an honor to be here to celebrate another important milestone for USF, one of the fastest-rising universities in the country,” said USF President Steve Currall. “Jugal and Manju Taneja share a passion for education, for giving back to their community, and for transforming the health care system for future generations. This gift will do so much for the trajectory of USF’s success — advancing innovation at our College of Pharmacy and elevating the academic stature of the entire university. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that in recognition of this transformational gift, the USF Health College of Pharmacy will now be known as the Taneja College of Pharmacy.” The USF Health College of Pharmacy was established by the Florida Board of Governors in 2009 and welcomed its charter class in August 2011. From the start, the pharmacy program set out to build an innovative program that would be a pacesetter in both pharmacy curriculum and clinical experience. Since opening to the charter class of 53 students, the college has steadily progressed with key accreditation and academic milestones. Today, the Taneja College of Pharmacy welcomes 100 new students each year for its Pharm.D. program, and has expanded its offerings to include five master’s degree programs. Already a leader for attracting Florida’s best pharmacy students, the appeal of USF’s pharmacy school will grow greater with this philanthropic endorsement, said Kevin B. Sneed, Pharm.D., dean of the Taneja College of Pharmacy and senior associate vice president for USF Health. “This year we celebrate 10 years since the Florida Board of Governors approved the opening of our college. From the very beginning, we set out to build a college built for the future of healthcare, and not simply exist in the past. With the generosity of Mr. Taneja, we will now have the opportunity to build a new home that allows us to truly build the pharmacist clinician of the future. “Alongside our Morsani College of Medicine, and the Col-
