Lawrence C. Weaver

Lawrence C. Weaver is one of the true patriarchs of clinical pharmacy. He was Dean of The College of Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota from 1966 to 1984 and 1994 to 1995. He initiated the post B.S. Pharm.D. program in 1971. His international efforts have resulted in the establishment of clinical pharmacy educational programs in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Pan-Pacific Rim. He led efforts to facilitate the worldwide access and distribution of orphan drugs required to treat patients with rare diseases while working for the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association from 1984 to 1989. In 1997, the University of Minnesota recognized his lifelong contributions and leadership by naming the Pharmacy and Nursing building, Weaver-Densford Hall, in his honor.

Born January 23, 1924 in Bloomfield, Iowa to Wilbur and Faye Weaver, Lawrence C. Weaver was the eldest of three sons. He spent his childhood living and learning on the family farm and one-room school in southeastern Iowa. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1942, served as a pilot and rose to the rank of Captain. He flew in the China-Burma-India theatre and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and one Air Medal. He returned to the States and earned a Bachelor's Degree in Pharmacy from Drake University in 1949.

Larry married Delores (Dee) Hillman on September 9, 1949 in Oakland, California. Dee and Larry adopted and raised four children. Dee and Larry Weaver's extended family also includes the thousands of pharmacy students throughout the world who have benefited from their personal support and guidance.

After earning his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Utah in 1953, Weaver joined the Pitman-Moore Company. He was the Head of Biomedical Research that included both human and veterinary research in pharmacology, microbiology and parisitology. In 1964, with Pitman-Moore, now a division of the Dow Chemical Company, Weaver organized and directed the Biohazards Department where he pioneered efforts in the emerging field of biological hazard (environmental) control.

Weaver's research interests in Pharmacy Education, Health Care Delivery Systems and Drug Combinations in Therapy, among others, led him to become the fourth Dean of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota in 1966. As the Dean of Pharmacy and Professor of Pharmacology in the School of Medicine, Weaver was farsighted enough to bring the pharmacy program at the University of Minnesota into the newly-organized Health Sciences Center in order to foster interdisciplinary education and the clinical role of pharmacists. He introduced the two-year Post Baccalaureate program that became the basis for the Pharm.D. program. His vision of clinical pharmacy faculty and Pharm.D. students practicing and learning side-by-side with physician faculty and medical students became the platform for the future expansion and growth of the Pharm.D. program. His 10 year effort to join the Medical, Dental, Nursing and Public Health programs on the campus of the University Hospital culminated with approval of funding for the Health Sciences Unit F building, which was built in 1981. He led the effort to secure the over $20,000,000 required to build the nine-story building that houses the College of Pharmacy and the School of Nursing. The building was dedicated in 1996 when it was renamed Weaver-Densford Hall to honor Lawrence C. Weaver and Katherine Densford, the first Dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota.

Dean Weaver initiated the two-year post-baccalaureate Pharm.D. Program at the University of Minnesota in 1971. As the Dean one of the first clinical pharmacy programs in the United States, Weaver collaborated with the Medical School to have his Pharm.D. students take pathophysiology classes with the medical students in order to both bring essential disease-related content to the pharmacy curriculum and to introduce medical students and faculty to clinical pharmacists. Dean Weaver was relentless in his belief that clinically prepared pharmacists could substantially improve the quality of health care. Under his leadership, in 1981 the Pharm.D. curriculum expanded from a two-post B.S. program to a six-year Pharm.D. Degree. Weaver felt that the curriculum should be designed to increase the clinical skills of all entry-level pharmacists. The new curriculum featured courses in pharmacokinetics, biopharmaceutics and a pathophysiology and therapeutics course sequence taught for the first time entirely by clinical pharmacy faculty. Larry, as he is known by the thousands of students he taught and mentored, brought a vision of improved patient care through clinical pharmacy service that inspired students and clinical faculty for over three decades.

After 18 years as the Pharmacy Dean, Weaver left academia to become the Vice President of Professional Relations for the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PMA). In his role as the Executive Director of the PMA Commission for Rare Diseases, he championed the goal of making orphan drugs available to patients throughout the world who suffer from rare diseases. His efforts have resulted in over 800 drug, serums and vaccines being designated as "orphans" by the Food and Drug Administration. His continued efforts to help those in need of orphan drugs required interaction with federal agencies, pharmaceutical firms, researchers, practitioners and patients and their families. He has been described as a peacemaker and a matchmaker who can bring industry, academia and families together.

Larry Weaver is recognized around the world for his leadership and advocacy for clinical pharmacy. He assisted international pharmacy leaders from several countries in the design and implementation of clinical pharmacy programs. Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, Weaver served as an educational consultant and advisor to numerous countries including Dalhousie University, Royal Danish College of Pharmacy, Welsh School of Pharmacy, universities in Cairo, Tanta, Nairobi, Zimbabwe, Republic of South Africa, Amman, and the University of Sains Malaysia. In his role as Education Advisor to the University of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Weaver assisted in the conversion of the curriculum from the European System to the credit system and to the use of English as the language for teaching in pharmacy. He worked with Saudi faculty to establish clinical pharmacy courses and initiated the first continuing education program in pharmacy.

Larry Weaver is one of pharmacy's most well respected leaders due to his endless efforts to establish clinical pharmacy as the standard for American pharmacy education. He served in leadership roles including President and Vice President of both the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the AphA and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. He also served as a member of first Board of Trustees of the Research Institute for the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.

In 1994, Weaver was summoned back to the Deanship of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota. He served in this capacity for two years and directed the implementation of the new entry level Pharm.D. curriculum. Since 1996, Dean Emeritus Lawrence C. Weaver has been a member of the Peters Institute of Pharmaceutical Care, developing educational and research programs in pharmaceutical care practice. Larry Weaver has had a distinguished career in pharmacy.

(Published in the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CLINICAL PHARMACY, Joseph T. DiPiro, Marcel Dekker Inc, November 2002)