WVU Alumna Makes $1 Million Gift to Create Clinical Pharmacy Chair

(posted 05/31/01)
FOR RELEASE: Friday, May 11, 2001

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.—West Virginia University has received a $1,000,000 gift from alumna Michele Vigneault McNeill to establish the first-ever chair in the School of Pharmacy.

McNeill, a native of Charleston, W.Va., is a 1975 School of Pharmacy graduate, who established the endowed chair in Clinical Pharmacy in honor of Arthur I. Jacknowitz, PharmD, a current professor at the School.

"Art Jacknowitz was my mentor. He is a very special man who encouraged us all to be the best we can be. I can’t think of a better way to honor him than giving back to the school that gave so much to me," said McNeill.

Her gift was made to the WVU Foundation in conjunction with Building Greatness Campaign: West Virginia University. The campaign is a $250 million fundraising effort being conducted by the Foundation on behalf of the University and has received more than $130 million toward its goal. A five-year campaign, it concludes Dec. 31, 2003.

McNeill is the founder and former CEO of Kern McNeill International (KMI), a contract research organization providing drug development services to pharmaceutical manufacturers. KMI, headquartered in Chatham, N.J., was recently acquired by United Health Group.

At KMI, McNeill pioneered work in providing drugs that fight serious and life-threatening conditions including cancer and AIDS. She serves on the Board of the American Foundation for AIDS Research, an organization committed to research, education and prevention of AIDS.

Jacknowitz, chair and professor of Clinical Pharmacy, has been with WVU since 1974. He has won multiple awards in the field of pharmacy including the Merck, Sharp and Dohme Award for outstanding achievement in pharmacy. He has served on national expert committees and has authored over 100 scientific and technical articles. In 1988, Jacknowitz was the sixth recipient of the Heebink Award, recognizing WVU faculty or staff who have provided distinguished service to the state of West Virginia. In 1996, he was chosen as the Lady Davis Visiting Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where he spent a semester in the department of Clinical Pharmacy and Biopharmaceutics.

"I am truly honored and very humbled by this recognition," said Jacknowitz, "It’s one that every professor dreams of but very few obtain."

Jacknowitz thinks highly of McNeill too. "Encouraging her as a student was a true pleasure," he said. "A quote attributed to Carl Linneaus, the famous botanist, best explains how I feel about Michele. ‘A professor can never better distinguish himself than by encouraging a clever pupil, for the true discoverers are among them, as comets amongst the stars.’"

McNeill, serves on the Board of the WVU Foundation and on the Building Greatness National Campaign Committee. She previously established a scholarship in the memory of her father, Frank Vigneault and made a $350,000 gift to the Mylan Center for Pharmaceutical Care Education.

"It is very gratifying when a former student makes a significant commitment like this to the school," said Dr. George Spratto, dean of the School of Pharmacy. "However, it is even more gratifying when it is done in recognition of a faculty member. Establishing a chair in clinical pharmacy will go a long way in attracting outstanding faculty to the department."

McNeill earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Duquense University in 1977 and completed a residency in hospital pharmacy at Mercy Hospital, both in Pittsburgh. Prior to working in the pharmaceutical industry, she practiced clinical pharmacy at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and Erie County Medical Center, which is affiliated with the State University of New York at Buffalo. She and her husband, Douglas, who earned a master’s degree in physical education from WVU in 1975, reside in Green Village, N.J.

The McNeill gift was made to the WVU Foundation, a private non-profit organization that generates, receives and administers private gifts from individuals and organizations for the benefit of West Virginia University.

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