ANN ARBOR—The College of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan has received a gift from Dr. Ronnie Cresswell, retired senior vice president and chief scientific officer of Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Division of Warner Lambert Co.

Cresswell, who has served as a professor of medicinal chemistry in the College of Pharmacy, has made the gift of $750,000 to create the Sheila B. Cresswell Fellowship in Medicinal Chemistry in honor of his wife.

"A university’s research excellence depends, in large part, on the quality of its Ph.D. candidates and the faculty who mentor them," said George Kenyon, dean of the College of Pharmacy. "It is through fellowships such as this that the college can be assured that it is attracting the best and the brightest young scholars."

Cresswell’s service on the Dean’s Advisory Committee makes him well aware of the difference such fellowships can make in the University’s ability to attract the best students to the program. These students, in turn, give the college a great advantage in its ability to recruit outstanding faculty who are drawn to schools with superior students with whom to conduct research and to teach.

"This fellowship is one of the many, many ways the Cresswells have shown their leadership at the college, the University and the profession of pharmacy," Kenyon said. "We are profoundly grateful."

Both Ronnie and Sheila Cresswell have given most generously of time and gifts to schools and programs throughout the University. Cresswell chairs the Life Sciences Institute External Advisory Board and serves on the University Musical Society Senate, the Pharmacy Dean’s Advisory Committee, and the MED Heart Care Program. Sheila Cresswell has been a MED Heart Care Program Ambassador and previously served on the Matthaei Botanical Gardens Ann Arbor Flower Show Council.