As he looks ahead at the last months of his tenure at the University of Iowa, a professor and former dean of the pharmacy program, Donald Letendre, is receiving the 2026 Harvey A.K. Whitney Lecture Award, an annual award given to one person in the nation per year. The award is considered to be the highest honor in pharmacy. 

According to the Harvey A.K. Whitney website, the award is administered by the American-Society of Health-System Pharmacists and given to people who have made significant contributions to the pharmacy landscape. 

Letendre is an honoree for the award and will be officially given the award in June. As part of the award, Letendre will give a lecture in St. Louis in June, the same month he plans to retire. 

“I’m very humbled that only one person in the nation is identified each year,” Letendre said. “I don’t do what I do to gain recognition. I do what I do because that’s what I believe in, and for others to take notice of that and instill upon me this award is, frankly, beyond my comprehension.”

Letendre began his tenure as dean of pharmacy at the UI in 2007 and stepped down from the role in the summer of 2024. He previously served as the dean of pharmacy at the University of Rhode Island beginning in 2001, making his total time as a dean add up to nearly 24 years, far above the national average of medical school deans at seven years, according to Oxford University. 

Letendre said his lecture in June will focus on the power of mentorship and how it can set students on a strong course for their academic goals. 

“My hope is to use my personal experience being mentored in helping to guide my career,” he said. “I want to honor them by discussing the power of mentorship and how that can facilitate just enormous change in health care delivery and education.”

Under Letendre’s time as dean, the UI College of Pharmacy opened its pharmacy building in the spring of 2020 for $70 million, raised from alumni donations and state funds. 

Letendre said his time as a professor has been much less hectic than his time as dean. 

“It’s really been a wonderful runway in that step down from going 180 miles an hour as a dean with considerable responsibility to having the opportunity, then to manage myself and focus on projects of particular interest,” he said. 

Letendre said shortly after stepping down as dean, he was named a Fulbright specialist scholar, part of a program established in 2001 that deploys U.S. academics to share their expertise overseas. 

Letendre said he was assigned to assist the Republic of Kosovo at the University of Pristina to lead a planning and development team for revamping pharmacy in their country.  

Letendre most recently visited Kosovo in the fall and continues to virtually assist Pristina officials in planning ways to improve pharmacy education, pharmacy research, patient care delivery, and the safety and integrity of drug products. 

Letendre said impoverished and emerging countries, such as the Republic of Kosovo, are especially susceptible to counterfeit and adulterated drugs. Letendre said his time working in Kosovo is unlike any project he’s been a part of. 

“It’s been very intellectually challenging, but it really nourishes one’s soul knowing that the things that we’re implementing there have the potential to save thousands of lives,” he said. 

Letendre said throughout his time as both a dean and professor, he’s put special emphasis on servant leadership, or a model where the leader prioritizes their team’s well-being and growth, because of the fact that he has been put in a position of authority and responsibility. 

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Jill Kolesar, dean of the UI College of Pharmacy, said Letendre’s impact in helping to construct the new pharmacy building is still felt today. 

“The design of the College of Pharmacy was very forward thinking,” she said. “The principles of design that they used really support how students learn in a collaborative nature and how research is also done in a collaborative nature.”

Kolesar said the sixth floor of the building currently acts as shell space for future growth until the space is needed with more student enrollment. 

Kolesar said she hopes to build on Letendre’s engagement with alumni by starting up services such as a scholarship lunch, learning activity coming in the spring, and a new first-generation student support network. 

“All those things are things that are near and dear to Don’s heart, and I’m very much looking forward to helping build on his legacy,” she said. 

Michael Brownlee, chief pharmacy officer at UI Health Care, said Letendre helped prepare pharmacy school students for roles within UIHC after graduation. 

“He worked with his team to make sure that the curriculum prepared the students in a contemporary pharmacy practice, so when they come to me, and I hire them as a resident, they’re ready to go and be productive and fit in with our clinical teams,” he said. 

Brownlee said Letendre’s tenderness as a dean has resonated with him even after he stepped away from the role. 

“He never forgot anyone’s name, and he was just a warm, connected leader that I think did a great job advocating for the profession,” he said. “For us here at UI Health Care, we’re grateful for his leadership.”

Letendre said he hopes he has left a lasting culture of caring and a focus on instilling professionalism for pharmacy students. 

“Whatever it is that you do, you don’t lose sight of the fact that we are serving the broader public when you take an oath as a healthcare professional,” he said.

Letendre said he has the coming months ahead to reflect on his gratitude for being nominated.

“When one comes to the culmination of their career, you just hope that you’ve made a difference in people’s lives in a positive way, and in some way, this award that I’m receiving is codification that others believe that I did,” he said.