Dean Frank Ascione Wins Inaugural Interprofessional Educator and Mentor Award
Frank J. Ascione, BSPharm’69, PharmD’73, MPH’77, PhD’81, Director, Michigan Center for Interprofessional Education, and Former Dean, U-M College of Pharmacy, was surprised with a first-of-its-kind honor at the recent Collaborating Across Borders (CABVII) event.
The inaugural Interprofessional Educator and Mentor Award from conference co-sponsor, the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative (AIHC), was presented to Frank Ascione at the end of the October conference. He had been nominated on behalf of the U-M Interprofessional Education (IPE) community by a group of Center for IPE staff members and Executive Committee members, four of whom were on hand for the award presentation.
Clearly taken by surprise at the honor, Dr. Ascione called it “very touching” after he had time to reflect and read the 8-page nomination. “It is a wonderful award, but everyone’s support in getting me and our work recognized is more important to me. It is a remarkable commentary, and very humbling.”
The nomination testimonials for Dr. Ascione repeatedly referred to him as a “teacher of teachers” and “mentor of mentors” in U-M’s growing IPE community. Co-nominator Laura Smith, an associate professor at UM-Flint College of Health Sciences, said of Dr. Ascione: “A person with his combination of vision, intellect, interpersonal communication, collaborative approach, integrity and passion for excellence will always accept a challenge and continue with diligence, creating greatness in the organizations in which he serves.”
The AIHC award and many other successful interactions between U-M IPE representatives and the 700+ international attendees at CABVII, which is a premier international conference, indicate significant recent progress for the U-M Center for IPE on one of its main goals: To become a national/international leader in interprofessional education.
Dr. Ascione was Dean of the College from 2004-14 and has been a Michigan faculty member since 1977. He is also a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he received his BS and PharmD from the College and his MPH and PhD from the School of Public Health. Dr. Ascione was director of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) program that produced the second edition of Evaluation of Drug Interactions and is the author of Principles of Drug Information and Scientific Literature Evaluation: Critiquing Clinical Drug Trials.
