Honored Alumni

College Awards Celso Cuellar as Alumnus Pharmacist of Year, Shara Zatopek as Meritorious Achievement Honoree

UH College of Pharmacy Dean F. Lamar Pritchard, Ph.D., R.Ph., recognized alumni Celso Cuellar Jr., R.Ph. (B.S. 65), and Shara Zatopek, M.A., R.Ph. (B.S. 74), with the college's 2016 Alumnus Pharmacist of the Year Award and the 2016 Meritorious Achievement Award, respectively, at the Mading Society Induction & Dinner Oct. 7 in Houston.  

Cuellar, who was among the Class of 1965 Golden Cougar honorees at the UHCOP Class of 2015 graduation convocation last year, currently works as a relief pharmacist in his native San Antonio. A lifelong community pharmacist and one-time independent pharmacy owner, Cuellar's career included positions with Mading Drugs, Kmart and Target. He is a longtime member of the college's Mading Society and among the society's "Red Coat" club for milestone donors, as well as a member of the UHCOP Dean's Advisory Council.

Cuellar and his sister and fellow Pharmacy Cougar, Lourdes M. Cuellar, M.S., R.Ph., FASHP, recently established the Celso Cuellar and Lourdes M. Cuellar Dean's Conference Room within the college's new home in Health and Biomedical Sciences Building 2. The Cuellars also have established two Presidential Endowed Scholarships for UHCOP pharmacy students.

Zatopek, who retired from UHCOP earlier this year after 27 years of services, was honored for her countless contributions to the college, the university and the pharmacy profession. A clinical associate professor and associate dean before her retirement, Zatopek is a longtime member of the UHCOP Dean's Advisory Council, a charter member of the Mading Society and creator of three scholarship endowments for UHCOP students. 

Zatopek's list of accolades includes the UH Outstanding Faculty Service Award and being among the college's "50 Outstanding Alumni"; Texas Pharmacy Association's Pharmacist-Educator of the Year Award and the Harris County Pharmacy Association's Pharmacist of the Year Award; and the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists' National Advisor of the Year Award and Outstanding Pharmacist Service Award as well as the Phi Lambda Sigma Pharmacy Leadership Society's National Faculty Leadership Award. 

She has held numerous leadership positions in the Texas Pharmacy Association, Texas Pharmacy Foundation, Harris County Pharmacy Association, UH Pharmacy Alumni Association and Phi Lambda Sigma, including national PLS president.