CU Pharmacy Announces 2022 Alumni Awardees

The Alumni Association for the CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is proud to unveil the recipients for the third annual Alumni Awards. This year's honorees are Edward Skaff, RPh '59, Kristin Speer, PharmD '12, and Laura Tydall, PharmD (RPh '82).Laura will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award, recognizing her exceptional contributions to the field of pharmacy. Speer is this year's recipient for the Horizon Alumni Award, given to CU Pharmacy alumni who have graduated in the past 10 years and exemplify the highest potential for significant contributions to the profession of pharmacy. Edward (Ed) will be honored with the newest alumni award just created this year as he becomes the first recipient for the CU Pharmacy Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award.

Edward Skaff, RPh '59

Ed, along with his wife and CU alumna Karen, is a longtime supporter of the CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. In 2018, he and Karen established the Skaff Endowed Scholarship. It was established to help promising students with their financial needs in acquiring an education at CU Pharmacy. The Skaffs also contributed to the building of the School of Pharmacy, with a boardroom named in their honor. 

He's owned and operated three pharmacies in Colorado over the course of a 44-year career in the profession. Ed also served on the Board of Directors of the Colorado National Bank of Evergreen, the Development Council for the CU School of Pharmacy, and the University of Colorado Board of Trustees.

Ed also received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce. 

Kristin Speer, PharmD '12

Kristin has worked in the PBM (pharmacy benefits management) industry for her entire pharmacy career since graduation. She currently is a clinical consultant for a large, well-known PBM. Prior to that, she worked for a smaller PBM for eight years. She worked as a Clinical Pharmacist and a Manager of Clinical Services, managing a team of clinical pharmacists, providing consultation to palliative and hospice prescribers on recommended pain and symptom regimens for complex patients.

Kristin embarked on starting a consulting business, recently creating an LLC to offer clinical consulting in pain and palliative care.

She also co-founded the Psychedelic Pharmacist Association, recognizing the needs around psychedelic-based medicine in mental health. 

Laura Tyndall, PharmD (RPh '82)

Laura Tyndall is semi-retired from hospital pharmacy and software vendor management. Shortly after graduating with her bachelor's in pharmacy at the CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy in 1982, she obtained her PharmD from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia in 1985. In 2021, she joined the State Emergency Registry of Volunteers in Pennsylvania (SERVPA) and assisted with the pharmacist staffing of volunteers at Covid vaccine clinics sponsored by the Allentown Health Bureau, administering 50,000 vaccine doses over 11 months.

When a healthcare professional confessed to murdering 40 people with drugs in hospitals in the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania from 1988 to 2003, Laura shifted her pharmacy career to focus on the implementation of safety initiatives in healthcare systems to avoid future tragedies. Her theme of “Medications, Murder and Modernization of Healthcare Safety” positioned her as an pioneering professional in modern day informatics as she developed and piloted training programs to healthcare professionals in using health information technology and electronic medical record systems.

The awardees will be honored Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022 during the 3rd Annual CU Pharmacy Alumni Awards as part of a 3-day celebration for Homecoming weekend. 

If you have a CU Pharmacy alumnus in mind for recognition, you're encouraged to provide a nomination for consideration next year.