Dr. William L. Dewey receives highest honor at Faculty Convocation
This year’s University Award of Excellence went to the chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.
William L. Dewey, Ph.D., has been a leading researcher in the field of drug abuse for more than 50 years. (Photo by Sha Aguado)
On Thursday, Aug. 29, longtime faculty member and department chair William L. Dewey, Ph.D., received one of VCU’s highest honors: the University Award of Excellence. Presented at the 42nd Annual Faculty Convocation, the award recognizes outstanding teaching, scholarship and service to the VCU community.
Michael Rao, Ph.D., delivered the opening remarks at the ceremony.
“We have a faculty that is filled with great minds,” President Michael Rao, Ph.D., said in opening remarks. “But we also have a faculty that fundamentally is committed to using their hearts to help drive how they use their minds to help other people live their lives.” Rao said.
The University Excellence Award is the latest in a long line of accolades for Dewey, who joined the School of Medicine faculty in 1972 and has served as chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology for more than 15 years. Renowned for his commitment to substance use research, Dewey has continuously secured the department’s T32 training grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) since 1976, making it both NIDA’s and VCU’s longest funded institutional training grant. Earlier this year, he received NIDA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
“In academic medicine, we don’t do what we do to earn awards — we do it for the enrichment of our students, the advancement of scientific knowledge and the betterment of society,” said Arturo Saavedra, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the School of Medicine. “But awards like these acknowledge the tremendous dedication of faculty like Dr. Dewey, whose contribution to his field has saved lives and shaped the next generation of substance abuse researchers.”
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