ATLANTA – Mercer University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences announced Gina J. Ryan, Pharm.D., of Lilburn, Ga., as this year’s recipient of the Distinguished Educator Award. Announced at the college’s 2007 commencement in May, the award recognizes an outstanding faculty member of the college who has made significant contributions in the area of teaching.
In the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Dr. Ryan serves as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Clinical and Administrative Sciences. She is a graduate of the University of California, San Francisco, School of Pharmacy, where she also completed her general practice residency.
In her academic position, she teaches endocrinology and oversees a clinical pharmacy practice at Grady Health System Diabetes Clinic. She strongly believes in the use of case-based learning as a way to engage students in the learning process. In the patient-care setting, she allows students to actively participate in all aspects of care for the patient.
She has stated that the most important thing that she can do as a teacher is to set an example as a lifelong learner. This philosophy is evident in her teaching. She facilitates the work of students to help them employ critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and her warm rapport with students helps them to feel comfortable asking for direction in the decision-making process.
Several of her articles related to her teaching activities have been published in Let’s Think About It!, the newsletter of Mercer’s Center for the Advancement for Teaching and Learning. She recently had a publication accepted in an international education journal.
About the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Mercer University:
Founded in 1903 in downtown Atlanta, the independent pharmacy school merged with Mercer University in 1959. In a bold leadership move, it became the first school in the Southeast to offer the doctor of pharmacy degree as its sole professional degree in 1981. In addition to the doctor of pharmacy degree, the college has one of the largest concentrations of Ph.D. students in pharmaceutics among colleges of pharmacy in the United States. In 2008, the college, which is located on the university’s Atlanta campus, will introduce a Physician Assistant program.
About Mercer University:
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University has 7,300 students; 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies; major campuses in Macon and Atlanta; four regional academic centers across the state; a university press; two teaching hospitals — Memorial Health University Medical Center and the Medical Center of Central Georgia; educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta; an engineering research center in Warner Robins; a performing arts center in Macon; and a NCAA Division I athletic program. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.
