Close Up
Passionate about pharmacy and UB
An avid UB Bulls fan, Gayle Brazeau usually can be found waving her UB foam finger in the gold 102 section of Alumni Arena during Bulls basketball games. Photo: NANCY J. PARISI
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“My goal has always been to give back to the university and to make people realize what value UB has for the community.”
For Gayle Brazeau, accepting a position with the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences was as comfortable as slipping into her vintage UB sweats. A UB student during the 1980s, Brazeau earned her PhD in pharmaceutics and welcomed the opportunity to return to her alma mater in 2000.
Brazeau admits knowing that she had a passion for the profession as early as the seventh grade, when she decided she was going to be a pharmacist. But it wasn’t until her second year of undergraduate pharmacy classes that she realized she enjoyed the academic side of the practice. After graduating from UB, she spent time supporting the pharmacy programs at the University of Houston and the University of Florida.
Now, as the school’s associate dean for academic affairs, Brazeau’s responsibilities include promoting academic excellence in students, faculty and curriculum. She plays a large role in helping the pharmacy school gain recognition for its achievements in academic and professional excellence. One of her goals is to integrate the pharmacy practice into community care and expand the role of pharmacists as health care providers. “One of the biggest changes in the school is the focus of pharmacists in the role as medication manager,” she says. “Our curriculum is making students into independent practitioners and giving them the courage to be able to step up intellectually, to take risks and help to advance the practice.”
Brazeau enjoys serving as a mentor to pharmacy students and serves as the advisor or co-advisor for three pharmacy organizations: the American Pharmacists Association—Academy of Students of Pharmacy; the national pharmacy leadership society Phi Lamba Sigma; and Lambda Kappa Sigma, which promotes women in pharmacy.
The recipient of a Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Faculty Service, Brazeau was flattered by the unexpected honor. “My goal has always been to give back to the university and to make people realize what value UB has for the community.” She currently represents the pharmacy school on the Faculty Senate, and is a member of the body’s executive committee.
A strong UB Believer, Brazeau is never without her UB pin. “I tell my students every day, it’s a brand and I’m very proud of this brand,” she says. A passionate supporter of UB athletics, she maintains a small UB Bulls shrine in her office and can be found waving her UB foam finger at Bulls basketball games. “I’m always in the gold 102 section and people probably think I’m nuts there,” she adds.
Brazeau and her husband of 30 years, UB research associate professor Daniel Brazeau, are avid gardeners and spend much of their free time tending to their colonial garden in Amherst. But, she adds, they leave no stone unturned in Western New York, enjoying the area’s history and architecture, and they love being engaged in the community.
She is excited about the unique opportunity UB has to change the practice of pharmacy in the community and the ability she has with the curriculum to make a mark on the health care agenda. “I love coming to my job. Some days are a little challenging, but I couldn’t think of myself in a better position. I love academics because it keeps you young.”
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