Congratulations to the Class of 2021

Congratulations to the Class of 2021! You are UIC.

We honored 219 graduates who successfully completed the requirements for their Doctor of Pharmacy, Master of Science, and/or Doctor of Philosophy degree. Among the graduates were nine PharmD valedictorians (Reham Awad, Taylor Holder, Kristina Karapetyan, Jessica Kulawiak, Andrew McInerny, Johanna Papnikolla, Hunter Patton-Gentert, Fong Kit Tam, and Lisa Wendt); numerous students recognized for leadership and service; and graduates from both the Chicago and Rockford campuses.

The Class of 2021 is a stellar group. We know this because, like the class before them, they were thoroughly tested during their time at UIC. Not just in the traditional sense—by their faculty—but in the more important tests that life presents. They have the distinction of graduating during a pandemic! They rose to this unprecedented challenge with poise and confidence. They will do the same throughout their careers as the next generation of leaders of the profession of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences.

Our commencement ceremony included a tribute to our Golden Graduates—the alumni celebrating their 50th anniversary. This year we honored the Class of 1971 (noted on page 34) for their long commitment to the profession of pharmacy, their service as role models to our new graduates, and their everlasting support for the UIC College of Pharmacy. They are examples for all of us.

As the Class of 2021 departs, they received some excellent words of wisdom and advice from our keynote speaker, Dr. Francesca Cunningham, PharmD, RES ’88, FEL ’89. Dr. Cunningham serves as the director of the Center for Medication Safety, associate chief consultant, and program director of outcomes assessment at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Pharmacy Benefits Management Services (PBM). Dr. Cunningham was the driving force behind the successful effort of the PBM to establish reliable methods for merging the VA prescription database with other large VArelated databases to evaluate the safe and appropriate use of medications in the veteran population—Dr. Cunningham’s leadership and commitment is what we look for in all of our graduates.

The Class of 2021 attended one of the very best colleges of pharmacy in the world. They are ready to conquer the world of pharmacy. While they do, we hope they will stay connected. If we have learned anything in the past year, it is how important it is to stay connected. Stay connected to your roots, to your family and loved ones, and to the College of Pharmacy.

We are proud to proclaim the Class of 2021 to be alumni of the UIC College of Pharmacy. Like all of our 10,000 alumni, our exceptional faculty, our Golden Graduates, and our graduation ceremony speaker, the Class of 2021 is UIC!

PharmD

Sara Al Azmeh

Sleman Alayobi

Luis Almazan

Naseem Y. Alrafati

Arti Aravindan

Mehul Amin

Crissel Marie Soriano Arban

Reham S. Awad

Hamza Hatem Awadallah

Catherine Mylene Ayala

Joshua Ryan Baczkowski

Veronica Lynn Badani

Jenna N. Baker

Josiah A. Baker

Mario Barrios

Jessica Theodore Behnam

Layalee Beirat

Brandon Raymund Neil Leyson Bontes

Colleen Marie Bradley

Eric A. Bulak

Xuan Cai

Todd Campbell

Zheng Cao

James Chang

Kevin Chau

Yu-Han Chen

Kevin Matthew Chentorycki

Sun A. Choi

Karolina M. Cieslak

William Clafshenkel

Brandon Cook

Amanda Marie Cotter

Chelsea Abigail Cribben

Shohreh Dadfar

Hamilton Murray Dang

Jefferson Dang

Shadi Deljoomanesh

Dillon Hanna Dickow

Tatjana Djakovic

Krystal T. Do

Amma Frempomaa Donkor

Kathrine Ruth Donnowitz

Nathan Dufoe

Danuta Dukala

Trevor Lane Duke

Samuel David Dykstra

Annesti Falah Elmasri

Nicholas T. Elzinga

Faizaan Bin Fahsal

Taraneh Farhatnezhad

Hamzah Farooq

Delashawn Warren Fisher

Aaron Patrick Flynn

Jasmine M. Forrest

Mark Stephen Foster

Nicole M. Fuchs

Faith Ann Furst

Khareemat Oyindamola George

Lanea M. Glauner

Rachel R. Grantner

Sylwia Maria Greczek

Ellen Yarlin Guo

Timothy Daniel Hamer

Kevin Jie He

Ana Carolina Hinojosa Felix

Taylor Alexandra Holder

Aaron Edward Hunt

Jaimie Lynn Hurd

Amy Yu Kyung Hwang

Dorina Idrizi

Juliana Ihm

Sohee Im

Alexander F. Infante

Sina Ith

Omar Ismail Jaber

Rachael Lynette Johnson

Jean M. Joseph

Leena Rusli Kaddo

Semir Kamil Kadhim

Yoko Kamei

Kristina Karapetyan

Hanan Samir Khadra

Bokyung Kim

Hwan Seung Kim M

ichael I. Kim

Sean Kim

So Jeong Kim

Lidiya Kizyma

Miranda Lynn Kopfman

Paula M. Krzos

Jessica M. Kulawiak

John D. Kunstman

Kelli Lam

Khoa Dang Le

Clara Hyun Ju Lee

Esther H. Lee

Michelle Lee

Wenchin Li

Kun Lin

Linhong Long

Anh My Luu

Karen Wei Ly

Megan Malone

Margarit Mansour

Nnebuhe B. Maraizu

Andrew John McInerney

Sally Mei

Alexander Charles Metzger

Robert D. Meyer

Marek Luke Mlodzianowski

Nicholas Charles Moffett

Fathima Sabria Mohideen

Arturo Montero-Hernandez

Sylwia W. Mozdzen

Ammarah Nadeem

Rana Naser

Michael Mbah Ndichuck

Patrick Wanyoike Ndungu

Long Nguyen

James Chien-Min Ning

Alexandria Marie Nudo

Maria Fides Magaling Ocampo

Margaret Rosaire O’Connor

Mogboluwaga Ademiolegan Oginni

Mofoluwaso H. Ogunlari

Chinedu Nnamdi Okeagu

Nicholas Michael Orslini

Samiya F. Papa

Johanna V. Papanikolla

Anushka Suresh Patel

Divya Hitesh Patel

Krupa Tara Patel

Ravikumar Amrutlal Patel

Ravikumar B. Patel

Ronak C. Patel

Rushit J. Patel

Sunny J. Patel

Hunter Patton-Gentert

Alyssa R. Perez

Minnie Thao Pham

Olga Iwona Piatek

Matthew Przybylo

Parth Rajesh Rao

Austin M. Reeder

Zachary R. Ress

Jessie Elizabeth Riederer

Erin Renee Roberts

Stephanie Maria Rodriguez

Tina Patrice Saleh

Danielle K. Sanchez

Craig Schaefer

Seth R. Schiffbauer

Jacob Aaron Seiver

Samantha Joy Seivert

Vishal Shah

Aisha Shajee

Supriya Shrestha

Kareema Siddiqui

Mandip K. Singh

Karlo Nicole Angeles Sison

Erica Ann Smith

Raymund Matthew Fernandez Soria

Mohammad Sunny

Christopher Swims-Vernor

Myesha Tasnia Tabriz

Fong Kit Tam

Alexis T. Tandyk

Samson Tang

Jennifer Thai

Alec Craig Thompson

Tiffany Tran

Amy Marie Valkovec

Sarah A. Vandermillen

Rohan P. Vashi

Donna Vazirnia

Carley Nicole Venvertloh

Pamela Vitalo

Ngoc T. Vo

Danielle Carolyn Von Ruden

Timothy Walsh

Yifan Wang

Nicole Warda

Michael Weisshappel

Lisa M. Wendt

Christina Grace Wilkins

Wesley Jon Wong

Alyssa Wu

Victor Yap

Rawan F. Zayed

Fatih Zecic

Eric James Zelhofer

PhD and MS in Pharmacy Systems and Outcomes Policy

Chandler Coleman Inyoung Lee

Planned for Summer 2021

Brian Talon

Connie Hon-Ning Yan

PhD and MS in Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmcognosy

Julia Austin

Chase Clark

Jessica Cleary

Jose Colina

Yukuang Guo

Laura R. Hardy

Carlo Rosales

Jacob Veenstra

Alexandria Young

PhD in Biopharmaceutical Sciences

Ashutosh Tripathi

MS in Forensic Sciences

Reenie Baidya

Kristina Bozin

Ariana Dindial

Kaitlin Keller

Kevin Kim

Madison MacBain

Killian McDonald

Anne Pluchar