Walker Leadership Scholars

In the fall of 2013, Donna Walker launched a leadership initiative to identify, educate, and prepare top pharmacy students to make substantial contributions to their profession. Donna created and endowed the Walker Pharmacy Leadership Scholarship Endowment Fund for $525,000 in support of Carolina’s Promise, a $1 billion fundraising campaign to support the University of South Carolina. The college

of pharmacy is very fortunate for Donna's involvement in the Carolina Promise and her willingness to support her alma mater. In addition to graduating from the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy (USCCOP), Donna Walker has also received an MBA from the university and serves as a committee member for the Carolina Promise campaign. Donna’s father, Tony, and mother, Jeanette, are also alumni. Tony Walker was a respected pharmacist as well as an inspiration to Donna. While in pharmacy school, Donna was involved early on in a variety of activities on- and off- campus. She served in both student government and her pharmacy professional society in addition to leading a consortium as a graduate assistant. These experiences developed her communication, teamwork, planning, and problem-solving skills. By providing similar opportunities to select students at USCCOP, the WLSP aims to develop these skills and inspire its scholars to apply them beyond the program. As Donna emphasizes, “The more I got involved, the more doors that opened.” The WLSP opens doors for its scholars by providing numerous experiential learning and mentoring opportunities. The mission is to cultivate exceptional leaders in pharmacy by providing high capacity students the opportunity to expand their leadership skills in a multi-faceted program. Our goal is that graduates of the WLS program will make substantial contributions during their pharmacy careers through exceptional leadership in business, health policy, and advocacy.