Recipient

Dr. Nancy Nickman
Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

Dr. Nickman is an associate professor of pharmacy practice in the College of Pharmacy and was elected 1995 Presidential Teaching Scholar at the University of Utah. She has been involved with service learning since 1990 and serves as service learning faculty consultant to the Pew Foundation’s Health Professions Schools in Service to the Nation Program. Dr. Nickman has also received an award for innovative teaching from the American Association of the Colleges of Pharmacy.

University of Utah President Arthur K. Smith notes, “Nancy Nickman is a … dedicated scholar and teacher and a role model for all who are interested in service learning. I cannot imagine anyone participating in a broader spectrum of service learning or holding a stronger commitment to service learning.”

Dr. Nickman’s project entitled, “Educating Patient-Centered Pharmacists: Integrating Social Awareness and Civic Responsability in Pharmacy School Curricula through Service Learning” will incorporate service learning into upper division courses at the University of Utah and Purdue University. Working with the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, this work will be disseminated to all 73 schools and colleges of pharmacy across the nation.

Although pharmacy is a discipline not generally associated with service learning, Dr. Nickman has demonstrated clearly the importance of this type of learning for her students. She writes, “Service learning has allowed me to be a teacher, student and compassionate human being in a way that contributes not only to the university community, but also to the communities with whom I have worked. I know of no better way to connect human beings in reciprocal relationships where all are students of humanity.”