Fiebelkorn named Fellow of the American Pharmacists Association

The APhA Fellow Award (FAPhA) is a profession wide award that was established to honor APhA members for exemplary achievements in professional practice and outstanding service to the profession through activities in APhA and other organizations.

Fiebelkorn was named a 2023 FAPhA by the APhA Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management (APhA-APPM). APhA-APPM is dedicated to assisting members in enhancing the profession of pharmacy, improving medication use and advancing patient care.

“I was inspired to join APhA my last year in pharmacy school in 1977 by Robert Cooper, PharmD, associate dean at the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy, who told me that as a student leader, I had to make my mark on the profession to help motivate future pharmacists,” says Fiebelkorn.

“I constantly turned to APhA over the years for inspiration in my career as I saw others make great achievements and move our profession forward. I practiced as a community pharmacist for many years in independent and chain pharmacies making changes that affected one prescriber, one pharmacist, one student pharmacist at a time,” Fiebelkorn explains. “Twenty-seven years ago, I was approached by the dean of my alma mater who convinced me to do the same for all pharmacy students: become a full-time faculty. Now as senior associate dean, I’ve replaced that same colleague who convinced me to join APhA in 1977. The circle of life.”

A full-time faculty member at the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (UB SPPS) since 1995, Fiebelkorn teaches several subject areas, including pharmacy law, pharmacy management and pharmacy administration.

He is an active member of numerous professional organizations where he sits as an officer, board member or delegate. He presently serves as chair of student membership for the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York, is on the Erie County Opiate Epidemic Task Force and is secretary of the NYS Pharmacy Conference. In 2001 he was one of the first certified pharmacist immunization trainers in New York State and is a certified Medication Therapy Management trainer.

Fiebelkorn is an advisor to various professional student organizations and has received many awards including the Bowl of Hygeia Award from the APhA Foundation (2014), the Hall of Fame from the Pharmacists Association of Western New York (2018), the UB SPPS Department of Pharmacy Practice Faculty Service Award (2019), and the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service (2019).

“To be recognized for my achievements, especially from colleagues on a national level, is the icing on the cake for a career that I love,” Fiebelkorn adds.

The mission of APhA is to lead the profession of pharmacy and equip members for their role as medication experts in team-based, patient-centered care.