01/20/2010 1 Comment Contact Our News Editors

Addressing pharmacy students at the Inaugural Sebok Pharmacy Lecture at the Ohio Northern University Rudolph H. Raabe College of Pharmacy today, Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE, president and CEO of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), honored pharmacy icon Albert A. Sebok for his commitment to pharmacy and urged students to become an advocate for pharmacy to help advance the profession.

“Effective consultations and wise operational decisions, stitched together over the course of decades, create an impressive career,” said Anderson in his remarks. “But Albert Sebok has accomplished even more than that. His commitment to pharmacy goes far beyond talk of a distinguished career. It also defines what it means to be part of, and to advance, one’s profession.”

His message to the pharmacy students focused on taking time to go beyond the day-to-day activities of being a pharmacist, and seeking ways to get involved in grassroots advocacy to take a stand for better healthcare.

“Pharmacy will become whatever people like you envision, and its advancement will reflect the energy with which you engage,” said Anderson. “That is really why we are here today. We are not here just to honor Albert Sebok by attaching his name to this lecture, and to repeat this tradition once a year. We also are here to connect his legacy with ours, and to advance all of pharmacy through our daily actions.”

Anderson encouraged students to share the story of pharmacy with lawmakers and attend the second annual NACDS RxIMPACT Day on Capitol Hill on March 11, 2010.

Anderson also discussed the importance of medication adherence through pharmacy services such as medication therapy management (MTM) and its importance in improving patient outcomes and savings in overall healthcare costs.

“Let me say this clearly: pharmacy needs to own the issue of medication adherence,” Anderson said.

The Sebok Pharmacy Lecture was established by alumni and friends to honor Dr. Albert A. Sebok, a 1953 graduate of the Raabe College of Pharmacy and one of its most distinguished alumni. A Cleveland native, Sebok joined Standard Drug as a store manager after graduation. In 1961, Revco acquired Standard, and Sebok began his rise in store operations, culminating in his appointment in 1971 as senior vice president for store operations of Revco DrugStores Inc. He was an original member of ONU’s Pharmacy Advisory Board and the founder and instructor of the college’s contemporary pharmacy practice class. He received an honorary doctorate degree from Ohio Northern in 1988.

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