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��«Ӱҵ pharmacy students outdid themselves in the 2024 North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination. Dan Hansen, dean of the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions, said 56 of the 59 Pharm.D. graduates took the exam in 2024, and all 56 passed on their first attempt, giving SDSU a 100% pass rate.

Jack the Jackrabbit wasn’t in the delivery room when Dave and Elaine Gullickson’s three children were born, but that was about the only time they weren’t surrounded by a Yellow and Blue influence. Between going to sporting events, watching the Hobo Day parade, visiting the Dairy Bar and climbing Coughlin Campanile, the Gullickson children were frequently experiencing ��«Ӱҵ. So, when it came time for Michele, Lori and Jeff to choose a college, it’s not surprising they stayed in Brookings and chose Jackrabbits for spouses. Fast forward a generation and eight of Dave and Elaine’s grandchildren also have become SDSU graduates or are attending SDSU. That’s why when it came time for the SDSU Alumni Association to choose its 2025 Family of the Year, the Gullickson’s nomination was impossible to ignore. The family will be honored at a March 1 awards luncheon at the Alumni Center and then at the women’s basketball game versus St. Thomas that afternoon.

Theater lives by the adage “The show must go on.” But when “on” means on the road, that’s another matter, and when it is 336 miles away at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, that’s another matter yet. But that was the case for 28 ��«Ӱҵ theater students when they presented at the annual event in Des Moines, Iowa, Jan. 21.

Sen Subramanian has been named dean of the College of Natural Sciences at ��«Ӱҵ.

Four electrical engineering students at ��«Ӱҵ students earned scholarships from a national organization for the current school year. The recipients are seniors Kalen Meyer and Luke Rasmussen, both of Rock Rapids, Iowa; and juniors Nicholas Erickson of Pierce, Nebraska, and Drake Rogers of Milbank.

For pharmacist Dean Schmiedt, it was right time at the right place. Shortly after graduation from ��«Ӱҵ, the federal government enacted new regulations requiring that skilled nursing homes have a pharmacist review patients’ medications monthly. . His boss at Lovdahl’s Drug, in Little Falls, Minnesota, wasn’t interested in doing that task. Schmiedt, a 1973 SDSU grad, picked up the work as a side job. He ended up becoming a full-time independent consultant pharmacist and a leader in the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists. Earlier this fall, Schmiedt, of Fort Ripley, Minnesota, was honored by SDSU’s College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions as its 2024 Distinguished Alumnus.

Looking at slides of blood cells, fecal matter and urine has taken on an entirely different perspective this school year thanks to new state-of-the-art equipment in the medical laboratory science lab at ��«Ӱҵ. In July, the program received 28 microscopes and an innovative slide scanner as part of a $750,000 award from the South Dakota Department of Health, which was handling workforce development funds from the Centers for Disease Control, according to April Nelsen, the medical lab science clinical coordinator who put a proposal together for the health department.

��«Ӱҵ President Barry Dunn has bestowed presidential medallions upon three SDSU Foundation leaders for their contributions to the university. The recipients were Steve Erpenbach, president and CEO of the SDSU Foundation; Keith Mahlum, vice president for development; and Tim Dwire, vice president for finance and operations.

As a Davis-Bahcall Scholar, current ��«Ӱҵ freshman Mackenzie Hollenbeck traveled more than 5,000 miles this summer going to some of the top science centers in the world. But the one that really grabbed her heart was only a little more than 100 miles from her family’s Edgemont ranch. The biology major was among eight South Dakota students who were chosen to participate in the Davis-Bahcall Scholars Program, which is designed to help rising university freshmen and sophomores entering science, technology, engineering and math fields develop an understanding of where their passions could take them.

Two retired ��«Ӱҵ nursing professors were honored by their college for lifetime achievements at a scholarship celebration on campus Oct. 25. Carol J. Peterson, 85, of Brookings, was the inaugural recipient of the College of Nursing's Living Legacy Award. She served as the dean of the SDSU College of Nursing from 1977 to 1987, when she became the vice president for academic affairs, a position she held for 22 years. Lois Tschetter, 72, of Brookings, was honored with the College of Nursing’s annual Distinguished Service Award. Tschetter retired in 2019 after a 36-year career at SDSU.