College of Pharmacy Dean John Pezzuto named AAAS Fellow

University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Contact:
Alyson Kakugawa-Leong, (808) 974-7642
Director, Media Relations, University of Hawaii at Hilo
Posted: Dec 13, 2012

UH Hilo College of Pharmacy Dean John Pezzuto
UH Hilo College of Pharmacy Dean John Pezzuto
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo College of Pharmacy Dean John Pezzuto has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The announcement was formally made in the AAAS News & Notes section of the November 30, 2012 issue of Science.
 
Pezzuto was honored “for distinguished service in the advancement of pharmacy and pharmaceutical education, and pioneering work in the field of natural product inhibitors of cancer.” He is widely recognized for discovering the anti-cancer benefits of reserveratrol in grapes and grape products.
 
“This prestigious group has confirmed what we already know about John Pezzuto,” said UH Hilo Chancellor Don Straney. “He's a dedicated, prolific researcher who attracts positive, national attention to UH Hilo, and we're fortunate that he is here.”
 
Pezzuto became the founding dean for the College of Pharmacy at UH Hilo in 2006. He has held several administrative positions in academia, including dean of the College of Pharmacy, Nursing, and Health Sciences at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He also was associate dean for Research and Graduate Education, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) College of Pharmacy, deputy director of the UIC Cancer Center and head of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy at UIC.
 
AAAS has nearly 120,000 individual and institutional members and 261 affiliates, serving 10 million scientists in fields ranging from plant biology to dentistry. This year, 702 members have been awarded this honor by AAAS for their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. From the section on pharmaceutical sciences, only 12 New Fellows will be appointed this year, including Pezzuto.
 
New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on February 16 during the 2013 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston, MA.
 
Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.