The Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences will award its highest honor, the Lawrence C. and Delores M. Weaver Medal of Honor, to Drake pharmacy alumnus, James (Jim) De Muth, PH’70. Jim will deliver the Weaver Medal Lecture during the 2026 Drake Relays week on Wednesday, April 22, as a part of the CPHS Awards Ceremony, which will take place at 9:00 a.m. in Sheslow Auditorium. The lecture will also be livestreamed and recorded for later viewing. A reception will immediately follow the ceremony in Levitt Hall.
The Weaver Medal of Honor recognizes an individual’s dedication to making a substantial impact on the profession of pharmacy and the advancement of human health. It is presented annually to a recipient who has fulfilled one of the following criteria: the individual’s efforts have advanced the education, research, or outreach mission of the college for the benefit of human health; the individual has made a substantial impact on the profession of pharmacy; or the individual has provided to the college significant financial support that has funded strategic change and progress. The award is made possible by a generous gift from Lawrence Weaver, PH’49, and his wife, Delores.
James E. De Muth, a native of Western New York, received a B.S. in Pharmacy from Drake University in 1970 before going on to receive M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Pharmacy Continuing Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1972 and 1974. Subsequently, he remained at the University of Wisconsin and served as a faculty member for 41 years until receiving an Emeritus Professorship in 2015.
Jim’s primary responsibilities at the University of Wisconsin were the development, implementation, and evaluation of continuing education offerings. During the first half of his career, he developed over 200 face-to-face and over 140 distance education programs for practicing pharmacists in Wisconsin and throughout the United States.
During the latter half of his tenure at the University of Wisconsin, Jim focused primarily on outreach programs for scientists working in the pharmaceutical industry. He created two new Land O’Lakes Conferences, expanded on-campus short courses, created a certificate program on applied drug development, and expanded onsite and regional short courses. Additionally, he developed and presented over 330 face-to-face and over 130 distance education programs for the pharmaceutical industry.
Jim considered himself a “statistical hobbyist” and has taught over 185 statistical short courses nationally and internationally (including in Brazil, China, India, Jordan and Saudi Arabia), as well as authored two statistics textbooks (one of which is in its third edition). He has also authored 59 research articles in pharmacy and adult education literature and has given over 85 invited presentations for national and international organizations.
Jim has received quite a few distinguished awards prior to the Weaver Medal of Honor. In 2011, he was a recipient of the Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Alumni Achievement Award. He also received the 1993 Rufus A. Lyman Award for most notable original research and scholarly work published in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, the 2000 AACP William A. Blockstein Award for contributions to the field of continuing education, and the 2010 USP Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Standards-Setting Process.
Volunteering was very important to Jim. He served on numerous University committees and often volunteered locally at school and church organizations. For 25 years he served as the Statistician on the Institutional Review Board of Covance Laboratories. He has also served as the Chair of the Biostatistics Expert Committee (2000-2005), General Chapters Expert Committee (2005-2010), and Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms Expert Committee (2010-2020) for the United States Pharmacopeia/National Formulary. Under his leadership, the Expert Committees published over 160 in-process-revisions and 30 stimuli articles in Pharmacopeial Forum, updated 62 previously existing chapters, and moved 19 new chapters to official status as public standards for ingredients and pharmaceutic products.
“Any success I may have had after graduation I attribute directly to the leadership and professionalism nurtured by the faculty at the Drake University College of Pharmacy,” Jim said.
In retirement, Jim enjoys reading, biking, stamp collection and traveling with Judy, his wife of 53 years. Their traveling has covered every continent except Antarctica. They have two daughters and sons-in-law and three grandchildren. Jim still cheers for his beloved Buffalo Bills, and the Packers when they’re not playing the Bills.
The College is honored to bestow its most prestigious award to Jim De Muth. Jim’s extensive contributions to pharmacy education and scholarship have made a substantial impact on the profession and will continue to benefit generations of pharmacy students. Join us as Jim shares valuable knowledge with the College and accepts this prestigious award.