Courtney Fletcher, Pharm.D., dean of the UNMC College of Pharmacy, can recall when the dream was all but dashed.
UNMC had planned to build new labs for drug discovery for emerging and neglected infectious diseases when previously-approved federal funding simply fell through.
“We had three choices,” Dr. Fletcher said yesterday, before a triumphant tent full of well-wishers. “Drop the idea, downsize and try elsewhere, or go big.”
UNMC, in partnership with its generous benefactors, went beyond big.
“August 23, 2016,” Dr. Fletcher continued. “We are here to celebrate and dedicate this entirely privately funded UNMC Center for Drug Discovery and Lozier Center for Pharmacy Sciences and Education.”
To see a photo album of the grand opening event, click here.
An overflow crowd celebrated the grand opening of the new building, which promises to change Nebraska, and through the scientific discovery produced within it, the world.
“That is exactly the vision our donors brought forth, and exactly the return on their investment they expect,” said UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D. “Not just a magnificent building, but in our ability as an academic medical center to transform the world.”
“What a tremendous legacy,” said University of Nebraska president Hank Bounds, Ph.D. “What a gift to mankind.”
Dianne Lozier, of the Lozier Foundation, a principal donor along with her husband, Allan, said the giving is the easy part. “It’s the work that you will do that will benefit the collective community,” she said to assembled pharmacists, educators and researchers, “which was the only goal Allen and I had in giving this gift.”
Ruth Scott, another principal donor, with her husband, Bill, marveled at the many changes on UNMC’s campus in the past decade, thanks in large part to the Scotts: “(But) something noticeable was missing! A football field!
“Wouldn’t you know,” she said to the delighted audience, “the Center for Drug Discovery would be just the size of a football field?”
“We have a world-class institution,” said P4 class president Beau Ehlers. “We have world-class educators. We now have a world-class building to back it up.”
“Students will walk through these doors, the future leaders of pharmacy profession will walk out,” said Amy Hornig, Pharm.D., president of the College of Pharmacy alumni association.
Brian Hastings, CEO of the University of Nebraska Foundation, said he loves days like this one because they celebrate not just an ending, but a beginning.
Dr. Gold agreed.
“The job,” the chancellor said, “is not done.”
A proud day for the College of Pharmacy! Mega thanks to all the donors who made this incredible building possible. It's a game changer.