Distinguished Service Professor and Student Favorite Retires

Paul Doering, a distinguished service professor in pharmacotherapy and translational research at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, has retired after 35 years of outstanding service to the college.

Doering plans to continue his work with students and pharmacists through lectures and seminars. Rumor has it that he is working with the Department of Pharmacy Services at UF&Shands on a special project to help pharmacy students make the transition from the classroom to the clinic less difficult.

Doering first came to Gainesville from Miami in the fall of 1967 with plans of majoring in architecture. His brother, who was studying pharmacy, influenced his decision to apply to the UF College of Pharmacy and begin his studies in 1969. During his senior year, Doering became interested in clinical pharmacy – the idea of pharmacists being involved in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of patient drug therapy. In the following years, Doering worked as a researcher in the College of Medicine studying adverse drug reactions.

A member of the UF Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars, Doering was hired in January 1976 at the age of 27, as an assistant professor in the college. In 1995, Doering was promoted to a Distinguished Service Professor – the first and only faculty member to be so recognized in the college’s history.

Over the years, Doering has received numerous honors and awards by his students and alumni at UF. He has been named Teacher of the Year five separate times and has been voted by the graduating class to receive the Faculty Recognition Award three times. He was awarded one of several Florida Blue Key Distinguished Faculty Awards given to an outstanding faculty member, campus wide, by Florida Blue Key Honor Society at UF. Doering served as Distinguished Alumni Professor, named by the UF Alumni Association as an outstanding professor for the entire university.

In addition to teaching, Doering has been a frequent speaker on the subject of drug prevention in middle, high school, and college classrooms. He also speaks to senior citizen groups on the safety and effectiveness of medicines.