Pharmacy Student Receives CEW+ Scholarship

University of Michigan College of Pharmacy student Annie Grech has been recognized by CEW+ with the Margaret E. Gnegy Scholarship.

Annie is earning her Doctor of Pharmacy with the guiding vision of a healthcare system that puts patients first, “acting as an excellent steward of their health, wealth, and time.” While working within inefficient and biased health care systems, Annie realized that she couldn’t help patients in the ways she wanted unless the systems themselves changed. Annie began to learn more about health systems design and engineering, taking electives through the Ross School of Business and the Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering that furthered her understanding of the healthcare system and how to improve it. Annie is now planning to combine her interests in clinical pharmacy and health systems administration to pursue a career in which she may serve patients and improve the systems that influence their care and outcomes.

Annie is also deeply dedicated to contributing towards the mentorship she received and “helping people navigate their path to roles they could never see themselves in before.” As a queer woman in STEM, Annie worried that her orientation would hinder her professional growth and often felt isolated. When she gathered the courage to be more open about her orientation, she also made it her mission to mentor younger queer students so they could see that queerness can promote success in STEM. She has additionally built community and support as President of the Pharmacy Student Government Council, where she helped found a national network of pharmacy student leaders (Pharmacy Student Leaders Network) and increased equitable access to online study materials, and as a member of the Student- Michigan Pharmacist Association, where she organized a “Thank a Pharmacist” campaign which delivered gift baskets to hard-working community pharmacists during the pandemic.

Annie’s care for her community extends even beyond patients and her peers. She serves as a F.E.M.M.E.S.+ Connect mentor, working to expose kids to science and introduce them to successful role models in STEM. She is a Capstone Activities Coordinator, recruiting groups around campus to engage hundreds of young students in science activities. Known for her “enthusiasm, commitment, and responsibility,” Annie has already positively impacted many.

CEW+ Virtual Awards Celebrations will be honoring Annie Sunday, November 7th (3-4 pm). Register to attend by November 5.

CEW+ was founded in 1964 (then called the Center for the Continuing Education of Women) to address barriers that kept women from successfully pursuing degrees and careers. CEW+ quickly discovered that traditional financial aid was dependent on full-time enrollment – an impossibility for many women at that time, regardless of their ambition, intelligence, and ability to succeed.

Dr. Carol Stratford received a CEW+ Scholarship in 1980 while pursuing her PhD in pharmacology at U-M. Dr. Stratford established this scholarship to provide support to women and nontraditional graduate students pursuing degrees in the sciences. Dr. Stratford named this fund for Professor Margaret (Peggy) Gnegy, a longtime friend and mentor and she hopes that scholarship recipients are inspired by Professor Gnegy’s role as a trailblazer for women in the sciences.