Hatfield Named Outstanding Advisor of Year by National Pharmacy Fraternity

UH Chapter of Kappa Epsilon Also Receives New Member Recruitment Award at National Convention

Catherine Hatfield, Pharm.D., clinical associate professor and director of Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences, was honored with the 2012-13 Outstanding Advisor Award by the Kappa Epsilon (KE) Professional Pharmacy Fraternity at the organization's 49th Annual Convention July 17-20 in Richmond, Va.

The UHCOP Upsilon chapter of KE also was recognized with the Outstanding New Member Recruitment Award at the national convention. 

"I was elated and very humbled by the honor, especially because I didn't know my chapter had submitted my name," said Hatfield, who also was the 2009 national recipient of KE's Unicorn Award, which recognizes alumni members serving as the leaders, workers, contributors and creators who make Kappa Epsilon a better organization. "KE is a great group of pharmacy professionals who are focused on women's health and service activities."

Hatfield added, "it was quite a shock for such a small chapter as ours to receive two major awards at the national level."

Hatfield has been a member of KE for about 20 years, and an advisor for the Upsilon chapter at UHCOP for about 10 years. 

Members of UH College of Pharmacy's Upsilon chapter of Kappa Epsilon display the Oustanding New Member Recruitment Award received at the KE National Convention in July.

The advisor and chapter awards are in many ways intertwined, as Hatfield was credited by Upsilon chapter members for inspiring them to "keep the faith" in the local chapter after membership had been on a downward trend in recent years. Chapter leaders then initiated several projects to reverse the decline, including producing a recruitment video and increasing participation in the chapter's Silk Rose Jubilee event for breast cancer awareness, that resulted in a 500 percent jump in membership in a year.

"I cannot fully express how much her words of support meant to me or the role they played in helping our chapter survive the recent adversity," said Yao Hao Lin, 2012-13 president of the Upsilon chapter. "ln addition to her unwavering dedication to our chapter, Dr. Hatfield is a consummate professional and proponent for students. She is an effective educator, as well as active in the classroom, in research and in other activities aimed to improve the quality of the pharmacy curriculum and community relations."