Remembering Professor Emeritus Gordon L. Flynn, PhD

Gordon L. Flynn, PhD., Professor Emeritus of Pharmaceutical Sciences, passed away peacefully on December 9, 2025. Read Gordon’s full obituary.

Spending nearly three decades at the University of Michigan, Dr. Flynn was a central figure in the College of Pharmacy, shaping the pharmaceutics department, advancing drug delivery and leaving an indelible mark on many pharmacy students during his tenure.

Born on August 21, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Gordon earned his B.S. from Rutgers University in 1960 and his PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1965. He began his professional career at The Upjohn Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan. 

In 1972, Dr. Flynn joined the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy as an Associate Professor of Pharmacy. He was promoted to professor in 1977 and served the College for 29 years, retiring in 2001.

During his time at the College, he was a leading presence within the pharmaceutics department. Dr. Flynn worked with students across degree programs within the College. In addition to teaching hundreds of students, he served as a mentor for more than 45 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and visiting scientists.

Dr. Flynn’s research focused on drug delivery phenomena, with particular emphasis on percutaneous absorption theory, skin permeation mechanisms, and topical and transdermal drug delivery systems. His work was widely regarded as pioneering, mechanistic and translational in bringing basic concepts to clinical reality. Over the course of his career, he authored approximately 180 research manuscripts, review articles and book chapters, and he held more than ten U.S. patents.

His contributions to the field were recognized with numerous honors, including the prestigious Ebert Prize from the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the American Pharmaceutical Association (APhA) in 1974. He was named a Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) in 1987 and served as the first chair of the AAPS Dermatopharmaceutics Study Group. He was also a standing member of the National Institutes of Health Pharmacology Study Section and a trusted consultant to industry and government agencies. 

Upon his retirement on August 31, 2001, Dr. Flynn was named Professor Emeritus of Pharmaceutical Sciences by the University of Michigan Regents. As a capstone to his career, he authored Physical and Biophysical Foundations of Pharmacy Practice: Issues in Drug Delivery, a textbook he donated to the University of Michigan to support future students and researchers. Generous philanthropists Gordon and his wife, Beverly, also established scholarships to support pharmacy students at both the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin, ensuring their family legacy of education and mentorship continues. 

“Dr. Flynn’s impact on the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy is profound. Through his teaching, mentorship and service, he helped shape generations of pharmacy students,” said Dean Vicki Ellingrod. “He will be remembered with deep admiration by colleagues, students and alumni whose lives and careers he influenced so meaningfully.” 

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that those wishing to honor Gordon’s memory make a memorial contribution to the Gordon & Beverly Flynn Scholarship Fund. 

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About the College

The University of Michigan College of Pharmacy has been leading at pharmacy’s edge for 150 years. The first and oldest pharmacy school at a state university, the College — currently ranked #2 in the nation — has and continues to shape education in the field. Its faculty are internationally recognized and are innovators in drug discovery, development and delivery, precision pharmacotherapy, outcomes research, and clinical practice. More than 5,000 alumni are enhancing patient care and outcomes from the bench to the bedside, in boardrooms and communities, government agencies, and within healthcare companies.