Pharmacy Faculty Member Gives Back for Students

Laura Frankart, Pharm.D., M.Ed., has called the VCU School of Pharmacy her professional home for 22 years.  

As a faculty member serving in a range of clinical, teaching and leadership roles, she’s found inspiration in her supportive colleagues and in opportunities to grow and evolve at the school. Currently, she’s the director of education and assessment and the interim executive associate dean for academic affairs.  

“I benefitted from scholarships whenever I was a student,” Dr. Frankart said. “I’m a first-generation college student, and I very much relied on a combination of jobs, student loans and scholarships to pay my way through school.” 

When she and her husband, Jeff, were updating their wills, Dr. Frankart felt it was especially important to support future pharmacy students with a scholarship. 

“Including the scholarship in our estate plans allowed me to make a larger gift than we’d be able to do right now,” she said. “We already give annually to support the school, so this was an opportunity to think about how we can make a lasting difference in the lives of students.” 

When asked why it’s important, Dr. Frankart’s answer was clear: “For me it’s another way to support our students. The reason that we’re here is because we enjoy working with students and seeing their professional and personal growth and development.”  

The scholarship will ultimately serve as a recruitment tool for prospective students.   

“Recruitment scholarships help attract the best and brightest students by showing them we’re willing to help to offset some of the costs of tuition,” Dr. Frankart said.  “That support really can make or break a student’s decision to come to VCU.”  

Dr. Frankart shared that without this support students may be lured away by other institutions because they’re more affordable. She hopes scholarships like the one her gift will create will help students focus more on their professional development as pharmacists and less on financial stressors. 

“When I was a pharmacy student, I worked two part-time jobs to help pay the rent,” Dr. Frankart said. “I hope this scholarship will enable students to focus more on being a student.” 

If you would like to support student scholarships at the School of Pharmacy, please contact Louie Correa, the school’s senior director of development, at 804-828-3016 or lacorrea@vcu.edu.