Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2010-07-19

Samford University pharmacy graduate Ronnie Opolka, R.Ph., has been elected president of the 1,800-member Alabama Pharmacy Association (APA).

Opolka, a 1970 graduate of Samford’s McWhorter School of  Pharmacy and a pharmacist with CVS in Guntersville, Ala., was installed at the group’s annual summer convention and trade show in Point Clear, Ala.

His 40-year pharmacy career has included work as a hospital pharmacist, pharmacy store owner, staff pharmacist for independent and chain stores, and pharmacy supervisor for a national chain.

Opolka has served as president of the Jefferson County and Marshall County pharmacy associations, and as a trustee of APA. In 2004, he was appointed to serve on the Alabama State Committee on Public Health as chairman of the council on health costs, administration and organization. He is a member of First Baptist Church of Guntersville, the Marshall and Madison county pharmacy associations and the American Pharmacists Association.

Following his installation as APA president, Opolka received a leadership award from the National Community Pharmacists Association in recognition of his election to the post.

 
 

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.