Assistant professor Sara Wettergreen, PharmD, BCACP, BC-ADM has been named an Emerging Teaching Scholar by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Council of Faculties, one of only four pharmacy faculty members to earn the prestigious recognition in 2025.
The AACP Emerging Teaching Scholar Award honors faculty who exemplify excellence in scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Recipients raise the bar for innovation and impact in pharmacy education.
Wettergreen is a clinical faculty member at Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences who prioritizes education-related work amidst her many responsibilities. “As a faculty with a clinical practice site, I feel like every day is a little bit different,” said Dr. Wettergreen. “About half my time is spent in clinical practice. I'm in an ambulatory care site, caring for patients, but I also often have learners on site with me. At school, it’s a mix. I could be teaching in the classroom; I could be running an evaluation. I also serve on different committees, including the Curriculum Committee. I also lead research in my role.”
The award recognizes not only teaching, but how faculty bring research into educational practice, something Wettergreen has been intentional about throughout her work.
“I manage time by trying to find natural overlap in areas between my roles,” she said. “I often think, ‘how can I create research from my work in the classroom?’ If I am creating a unique educational activity, I look at the literature to figure out an evidence-based approach to teach something. And then I say, ‘how can I assess that, how can I show if it worked?’ And then ‘how can I turn that whole process into a scholarly product?’”
The AACP Emerging Teaching Scholar Award submission process required a deep dive into her teaching philosophy and methodology, something Wettergreen says ultimately helped her grow as an educator.
“I put a lot of time and effort into bringing a scholarly approach into the classroom, and receiving this award reaffirms that I am doing the right things and contributing to excellence in education.”
She credits much of her development to mentorship from Jennifer Trujillo, PharmD, Associate Dean for Education at CU Pharmacy.
“I feel like much of what I have learned from teaching and education has come from her guidance,” Wettergreen said. “She works very closely with me, we designed the diabetes elective together and I learned a lot in that process. She also takes a scholarly approach and so her mentorship has been instrumental in helping me build those skills that are necessary to receive this award.”
“To me, one of the most impactful things I can do is influence a student in the classroom,” she added.
Outside of the classroom, Wettergreen volunteers with the Junior League of Denver, a role that, like her teaching, is centered on connection, community, and service.
“Creating community is what fuels my passion for pharmacy,” she said.