Harvey A.K. Whitney Award Lectures

Rebecca S. Finley, Pharm.D., M.S., FASHP

Rebecca S. Finley, Pharm.D., M.S., FASHP, is the founding dean and a professor of the Jefferson School of Pharmacy at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

Dr. Finley is an accomplished practitioner and researcher who is recognized for her sustained contributions to oncology practice, professional organizations, and academia.

She received her bachelor of science and doctor of pharmacy degrees from the University of Cincinnati and her master of science degree in institutional pharmacy from the University of Maryland. Dr. Finley also completed a residency at the University of Cincinnati Hospitals.

For more than 18 years, she has served in a variety of positions at the University of Maryland, including associate professor of pharmacy practice and science at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and head of pharmacy services at the University of Maryland Cancer Center. Dr. Finley also served as the chair of the department of pharmacy practice and associate dean at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. She was also president of the Meniscus Educational Institute, a for-profit, accredited medical education company.

Dr. Finley is a past president of ASHP and the Maryland Society of Health-System Pharmacy (MSHP), and a past chair of the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) and was the first chair of the BPS Oncology Pharmacy Specialty Council. She has served on the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research Cancer Pain Guideline Expert Panel, the American Pain Society Clinical Practice (APS) Guideline Committee, and the APS Cancer Pain Guideline Committee.

Dr. Finley is a member of the board of trustees and the executive committee of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices and has twice served as a dean facilitator for the Academic Pharmacy Leadership Program of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.

She has been the recipient of the Pharmacist of the Year award and the W. Arthur Purdum Award from MSHP, the Sr. M. Gonzales Lecture Award from the Pennsylvania Society of Health-System Pharmacists, the Jonathan Roberts Award from the Delaware Valley Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and the Robert J. DeSalvo Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy.

She has served on several editorial boards of scientific journals, including Annals of Pharmacotherapy and Highlights in Oncology Practice, and has delivered over 300 invited presentations both nationally and internationally. Dr. Finley was also the coeditor of Concepts in Oncology Therapeutics, a self-instructional text for pharmacists that was recognized for its excellence in end-of-life content by the Last Acts Coalition and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.