Dr Bruce A. Berger Retires from The Harrison School of Pharmacy
Retirement Party on October 1, 2009
r. Bruce Berger was the honoree at his retirement party on October 1, hosted by Dean Evans and attended by family, present and past faculty, staff and former graduate students of Dr. Berger. The event was held at The Greystone Mansion in Auburn.
Dr. Berger retires as Professor
and Department Head Emeritus
of the Department of Pharmacy Care Systems after a long and celebrated career.
A framed retirement resolution was presented to Dr. Berger by Dean Evans. Afterwards impromptu speeches were made by various of his colleagues and former graduate students and his son.
Dr. Berger will be missed at the Harrison School of Pharmacy, but everyone wishes him a very happy, blessed and prosperous retirement.Please view the slide show to see scenes from the party: http://www.pharmacy.auburn.edu/photogallery/berger_retirement09/index.htm
(Below is the text of the resolution presented to Dr. Berger)
On His Retirement,
The Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacy Recognizes
Bruce A. BergerProfessor and Department Head Emeritus
We hereby honor Professor Bruce Berger for his 25 years of service to Auburn University, the Harrison School of Pharmacy, and the Auburn Community. We recognize his dedication and commitment to exemplary teaching, research, and outreach in the areas of pharmacy communication skills, improving patient adherence, motivational interviewing, change, conflict management, and student professionalization.
Throughout his tenure at the Harrison School of Pharmacy, Bruce has been an outstanding citizen and has provided services in a vital capacity to University and School committees as well as professional and educational organizations.
Professor Berger will be remembered by faculty, student pharmacists, and graduate students alike as a gifted teacher and scholar who was passionate and enthusiastic about pharmacy practice and the pursuit of professionalism in our students. His scholarship was characterized by his sustained focus on research topics he believed to be important to pharmacy practice. Bruce was a much-needed change agent for pharmacy education and practice. He pioneered inclusion of new competencies into the curriculum, which are cornerstones to contemporary pharmacy practice, and his textbooks are used in most pharmacy schools. Communication training programs have culminated into national programs. He developed the AU Motivational Interviewing Training Institute (AUMITI) in collaboration with AACP and the Case Management Society of America. His philosophical papers on such topics as professionalization and incivility are widely read and quoted.
Professor Berger will be remembered as an advocate of those principles in which he strongly believed. He was courageous, eloquent and articulate in making his case, coupled with an unmatched perseverance.
He was named as an APhA APRS fellow and received the Lyman Award, APhA HAB Dunning Award, AACP Innovative Teaching Award, APhA Wiederholt Prize, and the AACP Robert K. Chalmers Distinguished Pharmacy Educator Award.
Professor Berger leaves behind a legacy of a nationally recognized department for its contributions to the science of improving patient care, and the application of that science to pharmacy practice. For that we are all grateful.
