OXFORD, Miss. – Cody Tawater, a fourth-year professional pharmacy student at the University of Mississippi, has been chosen to participate in the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s Walmart Scholars Program.
John Rimoldi (left) and Cody Tawater
In its 11th year, the prestigious program awards $1,000 scholarships to 85 student-faculty pairs from AACP member institutions to attend select seminars and annual meetings.
“The goal of the scholarship in general is to allow pharmacy students the opportunity to attend the (AACP) national meeting and strengthen students’ commitment to the profession of academia,” said Tawater, of Philadelphia, Mississippi. “It gives the recipients the opportunity to network with faculty from schools around the country and with other Walmart scholars who are envisioning a career in academia.”
John Rimoldi, UM professor of medicinal chemistry, is serving as Tawater’s faculty mentor and will help Tawater network with other faculty members. He will also help Tawater understand a number of academia issues, such as teaching pedagogies and curricular design.
“Cody has all the best attributes one desires in a student and a future faculty colleague: a resolute work ethic, a commitment to excellence in research and scholarship, and a desire and gift for teaching and service,” Rimoldi said.
Since the program’s inception, 14 scholar-mentor teams from the UM School of Pharmacy have participated in the program. Rimoldi said that this is telling.
“It’s a testament to our students’ outstanding achievements and our faculty commitment to mentoring,” he said.
Tawater hopes to get a behind-the-scenes look at academia through his involvement in the program.
“I hope to gain a greater understanding of academic pharmacy and how fulfilling of a career it could be,” he said. “There are so many parts of academia that are unseen by the students, and I hope to learn about them.”
In conjunction with the program, Tawater attended AACP’s annual meeting July 9-15 in National Harbor, Maryland.
“I feel that it is a great honor to represent the University of Mississippi as a Walmart scholar,” Tawater said. “Being a pharmacy student at Ole Miss has opened my eyes to all sorts of new things, including academic pharmacy. I hope I represented the school well.”