The Red and Black

Issue date: 9/14/07 Section: News

WARREN

When Flynn Wilford Warren Jr. started his career at Georgia as a University graduate student, he wrote his goal was to become a college pharmacy professor.

When he retired in July after four decades in Athens, not only was he a clinical professor of pharmacy, but he also had served as the college's assistant dean for student affairs.

Along the way, Warren, 66, experienced several highs, such as being named pharmacy professor of the year in 2004, and most recently a low when he was named as a defendant in a U.S. District Court case. But there has been one constant - the respect of his colleagues and students.

"He is overall one of the most impactful professors I have had. He is very student-oriented and very personal," University pharmacy graduate student Alex Ward said.

"I have personally known Flynn Warren since 1985 and found him to be one of the most admired and beloved pharmacy professors in this state," said Jim Bracewell, executive vice president and CEO of the Georgia Pharmacy Association, a professional organization that represents Georgia pharmacists. "His love and passion for the profession sets a standard for others in academia to emulate. He is one the most knowledgeable individuals on pharmaceutical laws in the state."

Warren declined to comment for this story. The Red & Black learned of his career path through an open records request for his University personnel file.

Warren arrived at the University in the fall of 1964, when Lyndon B. Johnson was U.S. president and the present-day College of Pharmacy building just had opened.

His University records show a member of the admissions committee had doubts if Warren could handle the academic challenges. Despite a two-year break from school he took to take care of his wife, Warren proved himself capable. By the beginning of the 1967 school year, he was an instructor while still in graduate school.

He exhibited early on his knowledge was practical and not just academic.

In June 1969, Warren was asked to identify a poison in a weed killer digested by a 2-year-old patient of Dr. James Maxwell after the clinical laboratory at St. Mary's and Athens General hospitals could not set up the test.

Warren correctly performed the test and saved valuable time. An unsigned memo in Warren's personnel file praises him highly: "Dr. Maxwell later stated at the hospital that had it not been for the performance of the identification test for the performance of the identification test that afternoon, he would not have administered the needed antidote until after the presence of the arsenic could have been confirmed by sending a sample to Atlanta for analysis on Monday. He was most grateful to all involved."

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