Article published September 18, 2008
Grad gives $1M to UT for pharmacy college
By MEGHAN GILBERT BLADE STAFF WRITER
Parviz Boodjeh is thankful for the education he received at the University of Toledo college of pharmacy and wanted to give something to show his appreciation.
That something, a $1 million gift, will help fund the college’s new facility to be built on the university’s health science campus and endow scholarships for pharmacy students.
“The education I received at the University of Toledo gave me a solid and well-rounded base to help me achieve and exceed my career goals,” Mr. Boodjeh said via e-mail.
He is the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Discount Drug Mart, based in the Cleveland area with 68 stores across the state.
Mr. Boodjeh graduated from UT in 1954 and opened the first Discount Drug Mart in 1969 in Elyria, Ohio.
“I and Discount Drug Mart have made this pledge for the betterment of the college of pharmacy and to enhance the educational and research opportunities available to its staff and students,” he said.
Specifically, the gift will be used for eight state-of-the-art laboratories and provide $200,000 in scholarships.
The university plans to move the pharmacy college to a new building on the health science campus to be constructed by 2010. It will be located between the Block Health Sciences Building and the Health Education Building.
“Our labs are very expensive to construct and to equip, so it is funds of this sort that really help make a facility like this work for you,” said Johnnie Early II, dean of UT’s pharmacy college.
“This is quite significant to a college, to any enterprise,” he said.
The college has a long-standing relationship with Mr. Boodjeh and Discount Drug Mart, with a large number of UT pharmacy graduates working in those stores, Mr. Early said.
And not only does the college draw many of its students from the Cleveland area, but they also enjoy going to work for a store that pays such close attention to patients, Mr. Early said.
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