Former Dean of the UConn School of Pharmacy, Michael Gerald passed away on February 4, 2017. He will be sincerely missed by the entire Pharmacy family and all who knew him. He will forever be remember for his instrumental leadership and love of teaching.
Dr. Gerald graduated from Christopher Columbus High School in 1957 and from Fordham University’s College of Pharmacy in 1961. He received a commission from the United States Air Force as a Second Lieutenant and was stationed at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California. While still on active duty he married the love of his life, Gloria Gruber. They had met several years earlier at his father’s pharmacy in NYC.
Dr. Gerald began his career at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy in 1969 as an assistant professor of pharmacology. He moved up the ranks, becoming a full professor in 1980 and eventually becoming associate dean in 1984. He had spent about half of his 42 year career teaching and half in administrative roles between the two universities.
At UConn, Dr. Gerald saw the School of Pharmacy through a number of changes. When he arrived in Storrs in 1993, the School was in the midst of moving from a bachelors degree in pharmacy to a Doctor of Pharmacy program. At the time, some faculty members were opposed to this change and felt it was unnecessary to add another year to the program. Dr. Gerald recognized that it was necessary to make the change in order to remain an accredited school of pharmacy, and for students to be as educationally prepared and competitive in pursuing career opportunities as graduates of other schools of pharmacy. It was his responsibility to mobilize the faculty to vote for the Pharm.D. degree, as well as to receive approval from the University’s Board of Trustees and the Connecticut Department of Higher Education. The school adopted and accepted its first class for the all-Pharm.D. program in 1997. It was also the first professional doctoral program offered on the Storrs campus. Under his leadership, the size of the clinical faculty expanded from three to fifteen.
When Dr. Gerald arrived, the School of Pharmacy was organized as a single department. He played a role in splitting the school up into the Department of Pharmacy Practice and the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. This allowed each department to develop further on its own to maximum potential. Dr. C Michael White, head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice said, “I am personally indebted to Mike. He saw potential in me, invested in that potential, and I will always be grateful.”
Dr. Gerald also played a major role in developing the new Pharmacy-Biology Building. The previous building had been built in the 1950s, and was no longer an attractive environment for teaching, learning, and research. He helped the university decide on a new site, and worked closely with the architects in designing the building to fit the school’s specific needs for the 21st century. By the time Dr. Gerald left his role as dean in 2002, ninety percent of the building had been designed, and it was completed in 2005.
As much as Dr. Gerald enjoyed his role as dean, he also loved his time spent teaching. He described being a professor as a more self-directed role, where he was able to work closely with students, and control his own calendar. As dean, he had to consider what was best for the school as a whole, even if it wasn’t necessarily what was best for his particular area of interest.
After retiring in 2012, Dr. Gerald returned to writing books. He was a man of many passions and hidden talents including photography, hiking, and fly fishing, but his greatest passion was reserved for his family.
Services were held Tuesday, February 7 at Temple B’nai Israel in Willimantic, CT. Memorial donations may be made in Dr. Gerald’s name to Temple B’Nai Israel, Mansfield Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation, and The Manchester Connecticut Chapter of Hadassah.
