Honoring School of Pharmacy Alumni Who Lead, Mentor, and Serve

"This year’s award recipients embody the very best of what it means to be an Ole Miss Pharmacy graduate. They remain deeply connected to our school, generously giving back through mentorship, service, and leadership. Their commitment to guiding the next generation, paired with their remarkable achievements across practice, research, and community health, reflects the lasting impact our alumni have. We are proud to celebrate individuals whose influence reaches far beyond their workplaces and strengthens the future of pharmacy." — Donna West Strum, R.Ph., Ph.D., Dean of the School of Pharmacy

Mrs. Susan McCoy - Distinguished Alumni Award

Susan McCoy graduated from Ole Miss in 1985 with her pharmacy degree, and for the next 41 years, she built a career protecting every patient who walks into a Mississippi pharmacy. She started in retail pharmacy, learning the daily rhythm of patient care. But over time, her work took her deeper into the system – into compliance, inspections, investigations.

She became the person who made sure pharmacies were safe, that controlled substances were handled properly, that patients could trust the medications they received. That work brought her into rooms with the DEA, the FDA, Homeland Security, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, and state licensing boards across Mississippi.

Nationally, she served on committees with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy – shaping examinations, standards, and working conditions that affect pharmacists across the country. For four years, she led the Mississippi chapter of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators as its President.

And in 2019, after decades of building trust and expertise, she became Executive Director of the Mississippi Board of Pharmacy – the person responsible for safeguarding pharmacy practice across our entire state. She is a great partner with the School of Pharmacy, giving her time and expertise in our experiential program, in our regulatory responsibilities for student pharmacists, and in our advancing pharmacy practice efforts.  She's a Mississippi native. Her husband, David, is also a pharmacist. Together, they've raised two children and now have seven grandchildren.

Dr. Wes Pitts - Distinguished Alumni Award

Dr. Wes Pitts came to Ole Miss and earned his PharmD in 2000. From there, he built a career in health-system pharmacy at North Mississippi Health Services. Today, he's the System Director of Pharmacy, overseeing acute-care pharmacy services and clinic-based pharmacist practice across an entire health system. Along the way, he became board-certified in Pharmacotherapy in 2009 and began teaching the next generation as a Clinical Assistant Professor for both Ole Miss and Union University – earning multiple Mentor and Preceptor of the Year awards from the students and residents he's trained.

But his impact extended beyond patient care and teaching. He served as President of the Mississippi Society of Health-System Pharmacists, then as President of the Mississippi Pharmacists Association. He is a Fellow in both ASHP and MSHP, and his expertise brought him to national committees that help shape the future of health-system pharmacy across the country. For 16 years, he's also served his community on the Itawamba County School Board – giving back to the place that raised him.

In addition to his clinical leadership and service, Dr. Pitts has been a tireless supporter of the School of Pharmacy—partnering with faculty and preceptors to build stronger, experiential education sites. He has helped pattern collaborative models that include shared faculty and foster innovative projects to advance practice.

At the center of his life are his wife, Leslie, and their three daughters – Ella, Darby, and Georgia.

Dr. Dennis Carty - Early Career Alumni Award

Dennis Carty came to Ole Miss to study how chemicals affect living systems – how they harm us, how we protect ourselves, how we build safer drugs. He earned his Master's degree, then his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences with an emphasis in Environmental Toxicology.

From there, he went to the University of California, Davis, for a postdoctoral fellowship in developmental neurotoxicology – studying how the brain develops and what happens when toxic substances interfere. His research became part of the scientific record – published work that other researchers build on today.

Then he made the leap from academia to industry, working in investigative and preclinical toxicology. His job is to figure out if a new drug is safe before it ever reaches a patient. He conducts risk assessments. He develops drug-safety strategies. He makes sure the scientists and technicians handling these compounds are protected.

He earned one of the most respected credentials in his field: Diplomat of the American Board of Toxicology. Today, he's a Senior Scientist and Project Toxicologist at Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, working on drug-discovery programs in oncology, neurobiology, and immunology.

What makes us especially proud is that Dr. Carty keeps coming back- mentoring our graduate students, giving guest lectures, and serving on career panels. He is proof that success isn’t just about what you achieve, but about lifting up others along the way.

And when he's not in the lab, he's baking, drumming, and spending time with his wife, Rhianna – who's also an Ole Miss PhD alumna from BioMolecular Sciences – and their two sons.

Dr. Amy Catherine Love Baggett - Early Career Alumni Award

Amy Catherine Love Baggett grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She came to Ole Miss, earned her PharmD in 2020, and then did something not every new graduate does: she committed to an extra year of intensive training. She completed a PGY1 community-based pharmacy residency at Palm Beach Atlantic University, then stayed for an enhanced community pharmacy services fellowship.

When she came home to Mississippi, she didn't just open a pharmacy and settle in. She saw a bigger problem: independent community pharmacies were struggling to get paid for the clinical services they could provide – diabetes management, medication therapy, preventive care. Services that patients desperately needed but that insurance companies often wouldn't reimburse.

To address this issue, she became the Managing Network Facilitator for CPESN Mississippi. She started partnering with insurance companies and healthcare organizations, negotiating contracts, opening doors. She's helping independent pharmacies across Mississippi become real healthcare destinations – places where patients get more than just prescriptions.

And she didn't do this from an office somewhere. She's a co-owner and practicing pharmacist at Love's Pharmacy in Diamondhead. She sees patients. She fills prescriptions. She knows what works because she's doing it herself. And then she coaches other CPESN pharmacies, shares best practices, helps them succeed too.

Two of her more notable accomplishments include leading the recognition of pharmacy technicians as community health workers in Mississippi and developing the MOMS program to improve maternal health in our state. For these reasons and many more, we are honored to recognize Dr. Baggettt, and we are proud that she is an Ole Miss Pharmacy alum!

She is married to Riley Baggett, and they have a one-year old son, Henry.