Celebrating Former ASHP CEOs: Henri R. Manasse Jr., Ph.D., Sc.D. (Hon.), FFIP
AS PART OF ASHP’s yearlong 75th anniversary celebration, I will be recognizing our three former Chief Executive Officers: Drs. Henri R. Manasse Jr., Joseph A. Oddis, and Gloria Francke. This blog will recognize our most recent CEO, Dr. Manasse, who served ASHP from 1997 to 2011.
Dr. Manasse came to ASHP after a long and illustrious career as a leader in academic healthcare. He was Vice President for Health Sciences at The University of Iowa and Chairman of the Board of the University of Iowa Health System. Prior to that, he was interim Vice Chancellor for Health Services at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center, and Dean and Professor of Pharmacy Administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy. In 1988 he served as president of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. He is also a member of the prestigious National Academy of Medicine (formally the Institute of Medicine) of the National Academy of Sciences and a recipient of pharmacy’s highest honor, the Harvey A.K. Whitney Lecture Award.
Dr. Manasse came to ASHP during a time of transition and change, and he helped the society become an even more outward-facing organization. Under his leadership, ASHP became increasingly engaged in proactive government advocacy and formed strong relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders in medicine, nursing, standards-setting bodies, hospital organizations, payers, and many others. He played a vital role after the 1999 Institute of Medicine Report, “To Err is Human,” to take ASHP’s longtime focus on patient safety, and work with stakeholders in all segments of society to help drive fundamental changes that have helped improve patient safety throughout the entire healthcare system.
In 2006 he served as Chair of the Board of Governors of the National Patient Safety Foundation and co-chaired the Safe Practices Steering Committee and the Advisory Committee for Executive Leadership of the National Quality Forum. He also chaired The Joint Commission’s Sentinel Event Alert Advisory Committee and served on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee. In 2005, he was elected as the Professional Secretary of the Board of Pharmaceutical Practice of the International Pharmaceutical Federation. He also served on the Board of Advisors of the Association of Academic Health Centers project on the Future of the Health Professions Work Force.
Dr. Manasse’s time as CEO was also a period of growth for ASHP in numerous areas including membership, educational conferences, residency accreditation, publishing, and many others. He also oversaw the formation of many of ASHP’s highly successful pharmacy practice sections and forums, which include the Sections of Clinical Specialists and Scientists, Ambulatory Care Practitioners, Pharmacy Informatics and Technology, Inpatient Care Practitioners, Pharmacy Practice Managers, and the Student and New Practitioners Forums.
Henri was and still is a strong advocate for the leadership roles that pharmacists play as direct patient care providers. He has been a longtime advocate for the enhanced roles that educated, PTCB certified, and licensed pharmacy technicians must play to ensure that all patients have access to a pharmacist on the interprofessional team who is responsible for their medication therapy. Dr. Manasse has dedicated his nearly 50-year career to continuously elevating the entire pharmacy profession with the singular goal of ensuring that medication use is optimal, safe, and effective for all people all of the time.
I had the pleasure of chairing the ASHP CEO Search Committee that led to Dr. Manasse’s selection and later serving as Treasurer of ASHP during Henri’s time as CEO. Our time together and ongoing friendship is something that I will always value. Henri is a true leader and has been a mentor to countless pharmacists, student pharmacists, ASHP staff members, board members, and many others.
As we celebrate ASHP’s 75th anniversary, please join me in thanking Dr. Manasse for his exceptional contributions to ASHP and to the entire pharmacy profession.
Sincerely,
Paul