2004

2003

         After earning his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy in 1979 from the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Ron Del Gaudio began his career as a pharmacist.  Soon thereafter, he earned his M.B.A from Pace University and joined the independent drugstore chain, Kings Pharmacy.  Today, after rising through the ranks, he is the company’s president and owner.
         With a steadfast reputation for superb professional support and technical expertise, he operates two pharmacies in Brooklyn and one in Manhattan that provide bi-weekly hypertension screenings, diabetes education and other classes, as well as patient compliance programs and IV home infusion services.
         In addition, Mr. Del Gaudio owns and manages Royal Compounding Pharmacy, where skilled pharmacists work closely with physicians to customize prescriptions and to provide more effective treatment and preventive care for patients with a broad range of health-related conditions.  Their success with infertility, allergy, HIV and hormone replacement therapy drugs is known and recognized throughout the region.
         In addition to his professional obligations, Mr. Del Gaudio gives generously of his time to a variety of health-related causes.  He is a longtime board member and the current president of the Brooklyn-Queens chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.  Also active on behalf of his profession, Mr. Del Gaudio is a member of the board of the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York (PSSNY) and is a regional representative for the New York City Pharmacists Society.  His outstanding professional achievements have been recognized by the National Federation of Italian-American Societies, which honored him as a distinguished member in 2001.
         A native of Brooklyn, he lives in Sea Cliff, Long Island, with his wife of 16 years, Denise, and their two children, Amanda and Michael.

         During his three decades as a pharmacist, Lee Joffee has been a tireless advocate for his profession and a leader in times of crisis for his country.  As captain and chief pharmacy officer for the New York Guard, Arm Division, the defense force of New York State, he coordinated care for thousands of military personnel following the 9/11 attacks.  For the National Disaster Medical System Team NY2, he served as deputy commander, mobilizing and directing medical services as part of the FEMA responses to the devastating hurricanes of 2004 and 2005.
         In 2000, Mr. Joffee served as president of the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York (PSSNY) and also was the chairman and fellow of its Academy of Employee Pharmacists.  For two terms during 1998 and 1999, Mr. Joffee was president of the Westchester & Rockland Society of Pharmacists.  He also is a member of the Association of Military Surgeons, the Westchester County Department of Health Emergency Medical Advisory Committee, the American Pharmacists Association and the National Community Pharmacists Association.  He has volunteered for the Yorktown Ambulance Corps and was president of the Reform Temple of Putnam Valley in 2005.
         In addition to these commitments, Mr. Joffee is the supervising pharmacist in Brewster, NY, for Curascript Inc., a company that specializes in biopharmaceutical distribution and care management.  He is the recipient of numerous awards that include PSSNY’s Bowl of Hygeia Award for Outstanding Community Service, the New York Guard Division’s Defense of Liberty Award, the Merck Outstanding Achievement in Pharmacy Award and the National Community Pharmacists Association Leadership Award.
         Mr. Joffee earned a B.A. in psychology from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in 1972.  He obtained a B.S. in pharmacy in 1978 from the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy, now the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, as did his wife Betty, who graduated in 1982.  They live in Yorktown Heights, NY, and have four children, Alison, Danielle, Deborah and Steven, and a daughter-in-law, Amy.

        Dr. Craig Ruffin entered the pharmaceutical industry in 1987. He spent the first few years of his career working at Merck and Novartis before joining Johnson & Johnson in 1991. Today, Dr. Ruffin is the regional business director for one of the company’s subsidiaries, McNeil Pediatrics, where he and his team have contributed to the product launch and outstanding sales success of Concerta, a medication used in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
        His keen business acumen and uncompromising drive to address the needs of patients have won him numerous accolades, including three Johnson & Johnson Standards of Leadership Awards; the McNeil APEX Award (the highest award given to a McNeil employee); the Johnson & Johnson Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Award; and the company’s Distinguished Service Award.
        Dr. Ruffin earned a B.S. in Pharmacy from the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in 1985. He was president of his class as well as co-founder and president of the school’s chapter of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association. Dr. Ruffin, who also holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University, and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Florida.
        A former member of the board of directors of the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Alumni Association, he currently serves on the College’s Council of Overseers. Committed to mentoring the next generation of health care leaders, Dr. Ruffin makes time in his busy schedule to teach. He is an adjunct professor at Howard University and Long Island University.
        Dr. Ruffin, a lifetime member of the NAACP and a Past Master of the Prince Hall Masonic Fraternity, lives with his wife, Saundra, and their two children, Christian and Christine, in Ambler, PA.

         Pharmacist, Carol Novick, honed her skills in upstate New York and New Mexico before finding her niche in the Green Mountain State.  Ms. Novick relocated to Vermont in 1983 and became owner of Gauthier’s Pharmacy in the town of St. Johnsbury.  She assumed the company’s presidency in 1991.
         Today, Ms. Novick continues to run her business while working to create opportunities for women and to enhance the quality of life in her community.  She is a director of the Downtown St. Johnsbury Improvement Committee and the Caledonia County Home Health and Hospice Professional Advisory Committee.  In addition, Ms. Novick is a corporator for Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital.  She also has chaired the St. Johnsbury Business and Professional Women’s Young Careerist Committee and has been a member of its Women of the Year/Employer of the Year Committee.  Ms. Novick previously served on the boards of directors of the AIDS Community Awareness Project and Beth El Synagogue, and as co-leader of a Girl Scout troop.
         She has been recognized repeatedly for her professional and civic leadership. Honors include the U.S. Pharmacists/Searle Service to the Community Award, as well as awards from New England Business Women Owners, Vermont Business and Professional Women, and St. Johnsbury Business and Professional Women.
         Ms. Novick earned a B.A. in psychology from Brandeis University in 1975 and, three years later, a B.S. in pharmacy from the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.  She is currently pursuing a Pharm.D. from the University of Florida, which she anticipates completing by December 2007.
         A native of Queens, Ms. Novick lives in Wheelock, VT.  Her husband and daughter work with her at Gauthier’s.

         Dr. Thomas E. O’Brien has been the director of pharmacy services for Strong Health at the University of Rochester Medical Center since 1998.  Under his leadership, Strong Health has become a national leader in implementing new technology for pharmacy services.  He also had guided the Medical Center in developing residency programs in pharmacy practice, infectious disease and emergency medicine/critical care, all of which are accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).  In addition, Dr. O’Brien has served as assistant professor of community and preventive medicine at the University’s School of Medicine and Dentistry for the past seven years.
         Over the course of his career, he has held executive positions and received appointments at major organizations including the ASHP and the New York State Council of Health-System Pharmacists (NYSCHP).  Among his honors are the NYSCHP Board of Directors and Pharmacist Achievement Awards and the Rochester Business Journal’s Healthcare Achievement Award.  He and his staff also have received two ASHP Best Practices Awards.
         Dr. O’Brien, who has published extensively in national pharmacy journals, earned his undergraduate degree in pharmacy from the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy, now the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.  He completed his medical residency at the Albany Medical Center and received a doctor of pharmacy degree in hospital pharmacy administration.  He also was a SmithKline Beecham Leonard Davis Institute Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
         A retired colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, Dr. O’Brien and his wife, Susan, live in Webster, NY.  They have five children.

         A distinguished teacher and researcher, Dr. Arthur Cederbaum earned a bachelor’s degree from the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy in 1966 and completed a Ph.D. in biochemistry at Rutgers University in 1971.  He completed postdoctoral fellowships at Princeton University and at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where he joined the faculty in 1973 and now serves as a professor in the department of pharmacology and biological chemistry.
         In addition to teaching medical and graduate students, Dr. Cederbaum researches the effects of alcohol on the liver, focusing on the damage caused by the substance that increases the enzyme, cytochrome P4501E1, producing free radicals that lead to oxidative stress. His work addresses questions with significant implications, such as whether there is a genetic disposition to serious liver disease and why women are more prone to alcohol liver injury than men.
         A reviewer of grant applications for the National Institutes of Health’s study sections, he has for eight years chaired the review groups that evaluate the biochemical and biomedical grant applications to the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, which funds alcohol research centers throughout the United States.  Dr. Cederbaum received an NIAAA Research Career Development Award each year from 1974 to 1984, and in 1991 he was honored with an NIAAA Merit Award that had since been renewed twice.  He is on the editorial boards of such journals as Drug Metabolism Disposition, Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine.
         Dr. Cederbaum lives in North Brunswick, NJ, with his wife, Arlene, whom he married in 1967. They have two sons, and recently welcomed their first grandchild into the family.

         For more than 50 years, Dr. Steven Strauss has dedicated his life to exploring diverse and innovative facets of pharmacy.  His career includes a 32-year tenure as a faculty member in the classrooms and laboratories of the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. He also directed the College’s Division of Pharmacy Administration and its Retail Drug Institute and, in 1990, created the Master of Science program in drug regulatory affairs, the first such program of its kind.
         Among his many other accomplishments, he co-founded the annual United States-Caribbean Pharmaceutical Conference.  He is the founding co-editor of U.S. Pharmacist, a monthly magazine on clinical and practical aspects of pharmacy practice, and the founder and former president of Technomic Publishing Company’s Pharmaceutical Division.  A prolific writer, he has authored or co-authored 13 books and scores of articles on drug regulatory affairs, patient education, pharmacy law and pharmacy practice.  His generosity established the College’s Steven Strauss Pharmacy Law Award and the Steven Strauss Scholarship and has also helped to establish the Alumni Association Executive Board Scholarship by matching funds pledged by pharmacy board members.
         Dr. Strauss earned a B.S. in pharmacy and an M.S. in pharmacy administration from the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy and soon after completed a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical marketing and economics at the University of Pittsburgh.  Today, he is an auxiliary member of the New York State Board of Pharmacy and serves on the Board’s Disciplinary Panel.  He has held elected and appointed offices in numerous professional and honor societies.  Residents of Westchester County, he and his wife, Bernice, have been married for 46 years and have three sons.

         Daniel Kantor has long applied the strong leadership qualities that were evident even when he was a student at the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy.  He was president of his class and the Student Council and, within a few years of earning his bachelor’s degree and serving in the United States Army, he launched his own first retail venture.  It was the beginning of a 40-year career as a successful entrepreneur.
         By 1970, Mr. Kantor founded the chain of Drug World Pharmacies, propelling its development throughout New York’s Rockland, Ulster, Duchess and Orange counties and northern New Jersey.  His leadership record also includes terms as president of the New York State Pharmaceutical Society and of the Rockland County Pharmaceutical Society.  He also was chairman of the Regional Drug Chain Conference and representative to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ board of directors. A former commodore in the Englewood Yacht Club, Daniel Kantor’s characteristic self-reliance and enthusiasm for challenges has extended to his decades-long love affair with the sea.
         Since his retirement four years ago, Mr. Kantor and his wife, Arlene, have lived in Jupiter, Florida, where he is very active in his community of Admiral’s Cove.  They have three married children and six grandchildren.  In 2004, his daughter, Heidi, established the Daniel Kantor Leadership Scholarship in her father’s name at the College of Pharmacy.

         Stanley Tremaine joined the United States Air Force (USAF) after graduating from Long Island University’s Brooklyn College of Pharmacy (BCP) in 1952.  Stationed at Wright Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, his highly classified assignments included the development of a broad range of aircraft.  In 1958, he switched to inactive military reserve status and opened a pharmacy with fellow BCP graduate, Irwin Roberts. Together, they operated a successful business that flourished for 22 years and grew to include three pharmacies.
         In 1972, Mr. Tremaine was selected by the U.S. Air Force to attend the prestigious National War College in Washington, D.C.  He earned an M.S. in international affairs from George Washington University before returning to the Air Force.  In 1976, he was named deputy for development planning and was charged with overseeing the conceptual design and execution of aeronautical weapons systems.
         He rose to the equivalent rank of major general, USAF, and was appointed to the USAF Senior Executive Service.  Mr. Tremaine twice has received the Civilian Exceptional Service Medal, the highest award that can be bestowed upon a civilian member of the Department of Defense.
         Since his retirement in 1985, Mr. Tremaine has remained active, establishing the Aerospace Division of the Ballelle Memorial Institute in Dayton, training USAF Academy cadets in Colorado Springs and starting a custom-contracting business.  He also has written a novel, “The Unholy Triad,” using his own Air Force experience as reference material.
         Mr. Tremaine, who has three children and 10 grandchildren, lives in Colorado Springs, CO, with his wife, Diane.

         Barry Pressman’s 40 plus-year career in pharmacy has run the gamut from owning retail outlets to manufacturing.  Born and raised in the Bronx, Mr. Pressman graduated from Long Island University’s Brooklyn College of Pharmacy in 1962.  He then moved to Los Angeles, where he co-founded Bi-Rite Drug Stores, a chain that boasted multimillion dollar annual sales.  After nine years in retail pharmacy management, he ventured into the highly lucrative business of selling quality vitamins through retail drug, food and mass merchandisers.  His company, Pharmavite Corporation, produced and marketed Nature Made vitamins, which became a leading national brand.
         In 1989, Pharmavite was sold to a Japanese firm, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals.  Mr. Pressman continued to manage the business, serving as chairman of the board.  In 1992, he founded the PureTek Corporation in San Fernando, California, where he currently serves as the company’s president, chairman and chief executive officer, managing a core business that includes over-the-counter drugs, health and beauty products and prescription-based pharmaceuticals.
         Mr. Pressman is active in the Private Label Manufacturing Association, the California Pharmacists Association and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. A father of six, Mr. Pressman, lives with his wife, Holly and two daughters in Santa Monica, California.

         In recognition of 36 successful years in the pharmacy business, Barrie Levine was named New Jersey Pharmacist of the Year in 2003 by the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association and the New Jersey Council of Chain Drug Stores.  Mr. Levine has served for more than a decade as vice-president of pharmacy operations at Drug Fair Stores in Somerset, New Jersey, where he oversees 42 high-volume regional drug stores with annual sales that total more than $400 million.  It is a position that draws upon his extensive experience in retail pharmacy management.
         After earning a B.S. in pharmacy from the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in 1967 and becoming a licensed pharmacist, Mr. Levine joined Pathmark as a supervising pharmacist.  He was promoted to regional pharmacy supervisor and regional non-food product manager before becoming director of pharmacy, accountable for 150 stores with sales in excess of $300 million.  In 1992, he became director of pharmacy operations at Mayfair Foodtown, turning around its marginally operating pharmacy departments within a one-year period.  He was recruited for his current position at Drug Fair Stores in 1993.
         A resident of East Brunswick, NJ, Mr. Levine is a driving force in state and national pharmacy organizations. He is president of the New Jersey Council of Chain Drug Stores and a member of the National Pharmacists Association and the Chain Drug Consortium, among others.

         Sylvan L. Lehrman’s family always thought that he would become an accountant.  He, however, had other plans.  Not long after returning from military service in France, he decided to pursue a career as a pharmacist.  In 1960, he enrolled at the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy, successfully completing the rigorous five-year program with the support of his professors, his study group and his wife, Rosalie. After graduating in 1965, Mr. Lehrman joined Rite Aid where he remained for a decade.  Eventually, he opened his own pharmacy in Pottsville, PA, where he currently resides.  Over the next five year he would expand the business by adding two additional pharmacies in the region.
         Following this initial success, he and a partner launched RXD Pharmacies Inc.  Today, he is the company’s CEO and president, overseeing a total of 12 pharmacies across Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
         Mr. Lehrman remains actively involved with pharmacy education, providing intern and residency placements for pharmacy students.  He also served as chairman of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Regional Chain Committee for 2001.
         In addition, he is the past chairman of his local annual Diabetic Testing Clinic, a former board member and treasurer of the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center of Pottsville and a former member of the associate board of directors for Keystone Financial Bank. He is the past president and current board member of the Oheb Zedeck Synagogue as well as treasurer of the Jewish Museum of Eastern Pennsylvania.
         The Lehrman family includes two children, Beth and Craig, Craig’s wife, Dana, and three wonderful grandchildren.  Pharmacy has become a family tradition for them: Craig, who followed in his father’s footsteps, is a pharmacist and serves as RXD’s vice president of operations.

         Dr. Pedro J. Lecca is dean and professor at the College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Health Sciences at Howard University in Washington, D.C., overseeing undergraduate and graduate programs involving diverse facilities and student bodies.  Prior to moving to Washington in 1998, he served as the sixth dean and professor of the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health at Texas Southern University in Houston, where he established the entry-level Pharm.D. and post-baccalaureate Pharm.D. degrees and guided the accreditation of five allied health programs in health care administration, environment health, respiratory health, medical technology and health information management.  Previously, he was professor and director of Health Care Specialization at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) and the director of the Southern Re-accreditation Program.
         Dr. Lecca earned a master’s degree in 1967 from the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy; in addition, he received an M.S.W. in social work from the University of Texas at Arlington; a Ph.D. in pharmacy administration/health care from the University of Mississippi; and a Post-Doctorate from Baruch College of Business/Mt. Sinai Medical School in health services research.
         With expertise in a broad range of areas such as academic administration, public health/mental health research, substance abuse and AIDS research, Dr. Lecca is associated with health organizations across the country.  He also is a member of numerous professional organizations, among them the Minority Health Professions Association, the Educational Organization for United Latin Americans and the American Public Health Association.
         Dr. Lecca has received many honors, including a National Health Services Research Fellowship from the Baruch College of Business/Mt. Sinai Medical School; an American Council on Higher Education Fellowship; the Malcolm Baldrige Award—examiner since 1998; the Outstanding Faculty Representative Award, UTZ; the Distinguished Alumni Award, University of Mississippi; and the Outstanding Faculty Senate President Award, UTA. Dr. Lecca also has served as commissioner of planning and zoning for the City of Arlington, Texas.  In 1993, U.S. Surgeon General appointed him to serve on the National Hispanic Health Issues Task Force.  In addition, Dr. Lecca has written research grants that total more than $100 million and has authored over 20 books.