Dr. Margaret Shaw, a longtime professor in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (COPHS), taught in COPHS for 29 years before retiring in 1994 as a Professor Emerita. She passed away in June, but her legacy lives on through the many students whose lives were changed by her mentorship. Several of those former students combined their gifts in 2022 to establish the Dr. Margaret Shaw Pharmacy Scholarship to honor Shaw’s profound and lasting influence in their lives.

The scholarship is designated for P3 students in good academic standing who demonstrate professional acumen and integrity, and a strong work ethic and dedication to patient care–all attributes the donors say Shaw embodied and instilled in her students. The scholarship was created by 2024 Mortar Award recipients Bob Ternik ՚87 and Laura Ternik ՚87, and Don Sefcik ՚81 MS ՚93 and Jo Ann Sefcik. As an endowed scholarship, the fund is now a permanent testament to Shaw’s influence not only on her students but on the Butler pharmacy program as a whole.

“Dr. Shaw set a standard of excellence in the Butler Pharmacy program that endures to this day,” says Bob Soltis ՚87, Dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and one of Shaw’s former students. “Like so many of our excellent Butler faculty members, she never sought out the spotlight but consistently went about the meaningful work of investing in her students by preparing them for successful careers and lives. I am grateful for her legacy and for the donors who have stepped forward to honor her through this scholarship.”

Shaw is described by her former students as tough, intimidating, by the book, and deeply respected. Many remembered fearing her in the early days of their pharmacy training, and revering her by the time they graduated.

“For a lot of students, she was a very intimidating figure, and I say that with great love and respect,” remembers Bob Ternik. “It’s because she was very detail oriented and set a very high standard, and she expected all the students going through the program to meet that standard.”

Shaw was known to meticulously comb through each student’s work to find and point out any errors. Students were expected to show all of their work in order to get credit. She always taught in her white coat and addressed students by last name, such as Mr. Jones or Ms. Smith.

“She was very professional and formal,” Ternik says. “Obviously as I got to know her better that was all by design. She was demonstrating how to be a professional. It was about how you conduct yourself and how you present yourself as a professional healthcare provider. She was a great teacher and a really wonderful role model.”

Sefcik recalls Shaw’s warmth and care for her students coming through with increasing clarity as he moved through the program, including the feeling that Shaw was addressing him as a colleague instead of a student toward the end of the program. He says Shaw instilled in students the habit of taking the time to understand a problem before rushing to an answer.

“I always held her in the highest esteem and respected her immensely,” Sefcik says. “She cared about you, and that was clear. It wasn’t just about getting the right answer, it was about understanding the challenge before you.”

Another former student, Sam Patel ՚88 PharmD ՚97, vividly remembers the moment he grasped how deeply Shaw cared beneath her formal demeanor. Patel recalls being unable to pass one of Shaw’s pharmaceutical calculations classes early in the pharmacy curriculum, a course that was a prerequisite for continuing in the program. Instead of compromising her academic standards to help Patel pass, Shaw encouraged him to take the course over the summer at another university, where he could concentrate on absorbing the concepts. When Patel returned to Butler, his next conversation with Shaw turned into a moment he has never forgotten.

“She said, “Mr. Patel, how did you do?’ And I said, ‘Well Dr. Shaw, I did pass.’ And she said, ‘Let me see the report.’ So I handed her the report card and she just lit up. She said, ‘Sam! You got an A!’ She pulled me toward her and she hugged me and from that day forward she called me Sam,” Patel says. “She motivated me, she helped me, and to this day, I can’t say enough about what she did for me.” 

Memorial contributions can be made to the Dr. Margaret Shaw Pharmacy Scholarship at www.butler.edu/gifts.