Today, the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Pharmacy gratefully announces an estate gift commitment of an amount not publicly disclosed from Robert Sperry, a Kansas City-area resident whose family has longtime ties to the local pharmacy profession.
Sperry has requested that the gift be used to create an endowed chair in geriatric pharmacotherapy and to support Pharmacy School students through the UMKC Pharmacy Foundation.
The Journal of the American Medical Association recently stated that if adverse reactions to medications were classified as a distinct disease, it would rank as the fifth leading cause of death in the United States. The economic cost rivals that of cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and other major diseases and conditions commonly affecting the elderly population. The endowed chair will conduct research with older individuals -- especially those over 80 years of age -- to help minimize the harm and cost associated with adverse reactions to medications. This portion of the gift will bring opportunities for collaborative research within the School of Pharmacy, with the other health sciences schools on the UMKC campus, with the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute partners and beyond.
The portion of the gift designated for student assistance will support School of Pharmacy students with urgent personal financial needs through the Pharmacy Foundation.
"The University is deeply grateful to Mr. Sperry and his family for this generous gift," said UMKC Chancellor Leo E. Morton. "For a member of the community to step forward with such thoughtfulness and generosity, it is not only a testament to the great work being done at our School of Pharmacy, but a reflection of the community-based mission of our entire University."
Sperry is the son of Merle Sperry, who served as president of Kansas City-based McPike Wholesale Drug Company, the largest wholesale drug distribution center in the world. The company was sold in the 1980s and Merle Sperry passed away in 2005, but Robert Sperry says his admiration for the pharmacy profession endures, as does his admiration for the work the UMKC School of Pharmacy conducts to advance the profession and the health of citizens in the local community and beyond.
The UMKC School of Pharmacy has a long history of incorporating community issues and encouraging student ownership of community issues through its curriculum. It is the only pharmacy school in the nation to have won all three awards from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), including their "Crystal Apple Award" (2007) recognizing excellence in academic/community pharmacy partnerships; the "Student Community Engaged Service Award" (2009) recognizing student-led engagement projects, and the "Transformative Community Service Award" (2010) for demonstrating an institutional commitment to addressing unmet community needs through education, practice and research. AACP is the national organization representing pharmacy education in the United States and is based in Washington, D.C.
"The Sperry gift is the largest in the school's history and will provide a strong support base for our students through grants-in-aid to those most in need," said Robert W. Piepho, Ph.D., dean of the UMKC School of Pharmacy. "The other component of the gift, an Endowed Chair in Geriatric Pharmacotherapy, will bring to our research faculty a leader in the field of medication use in seniors and will position the School of Pharmacy as a cutting-edge institution in this burgeoning field of study."
The University is grateful to Robert Sperry and his family for their generations of commitment to pharmacy, and for this generous gift that will benefit many.
