‘The Don’ of Monash Pharmacy gets a gong
"We call him The Don because, when it came to our profession, his batting average is twice everyone else’s,” says former Dean, Professor Bill Charman. “But not only that, he can probably swim, run, row, jump, or do anything else way better than anyone else too.”
Dr Alistair Lloyd AO RFD ED FPS
In October 2022, respected pharmacist, Dr Alistair Lloyd AO RFD ED FPS, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Laws; Honoris Causa), the highest possible accolade from Monash University. He was a giant of the profession. Here we explore his impressive career and contribution to Australia’s pharmacy sector.
In pharmacy circles, Dr Alistair Lloyd is often affectionately referred to as ‘The Don’, a reference to cricketing great Sir Don Bradman.
“He is a big thinker, but the way he presents his ideas is different. He has a real presence.” says Professor Bill Charman.
Before becoming a mover and shaker of the pharmacy profession, Alistair was a student at the Victorian College of Pharmacy - Monash’s predecessor institution.
After graduating in 1956, his first job appointment was as a community pharmacist in Geelong.
However, it wasn’t long before his academic ability pulled him away from practice. Just one year later, he found himself travelling to Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, Northern Europe and North America on the highly competitive Kodak Travelling Scholarship to look at the role pharmacy played in civil defence.
“It was the height of the Cold War, and I was researching how pharmaceuticals would be used in a nuclear emergency - something that was on a lot of people’s minds,” Alistair said. “It was an incredible opportunity.”
Working closely with giants
Family of Dr Alistair Lloyd AO RFD ED FPS
While the prospect of conducting overseas research (a rarity at the time) appealed to Alistair, he says that his career in Australia had already started to be shaped by a ‘giant’ of Victorian and Australian pharmacy. The man in question, Nigel Manning, was a pharmacist with a practice at Flinders Street Station. He was also an active staff member of the Victorian College of Pharmacy.
“I was extraordinarily fortunate to become his apprentice,” Alistair said. “I was closely exposed to his passion for scholarship, innovation and practice development from my earliest involvement in pharmacy.”
It was through Nigel Manning that Alistair was inspired to become involved with the profession, and he was elected to the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society in 1961. In that role, he helped oversee the appointment of his friend and mentor to the position of Dean of the College - a role in which Manning served for 18 years.
Manning made this a period of enormous change in pharmacy education. Gone was the four-year apprenticeship. In its place was a three-year rigorous academic degree built on a science-based curriculum - the first degree in Australia to be granted by a body that was not a university - followed by a one-year apprenticeship. Manning would also introduce an industry-leading research program and foster links with overseas schools.
Alistair used his position to ensure the profession understood and supported the reforms. He personally worked to improve the quality of pharmacy training, helping to establish the Chapter of Pharmacy Practice Tutors. This was groundbreaking because tutors, as well as the students they taught, were to be assessed. While this might be commonplace today, it was revolutionary at the time.
A vision of what pharmacy could be
L-R: Dean Professor Arthur Christopoulos FAA FAHMS, President and Vice-Chancellor Margaret Gardner AC, Dr Alistair Lloyd AO, Deputy Chancellor The Hon Peter Young AM KC
“Alistair was ahead of his time and could see clearly what others couldn’t,” says fellow pharmacist and former Chair of Pharmaceutical Defence Ltd, John Coppock OAM. “You have to remember that when we started working, pharmacists were still essentially compound pharmacists.”
“In the early 1980s, I remember him saying that traditional pharmacists would be fewer and have larger practices, dealing with between four thousand and six thousand people and open 10 to 12 hours a day. He also said that community pharmacy would begin to overlap with clinical pharmacy. These ideas were inconceivable at the time.”
In 1982, Alistair was appointed Executive Officer of the College – a role in which he would continue to serve the pharmacy profession for the next 16 years.
During this time, Alistair was, in many ways, one of the custodians of pharmacy education in Victoria, helping bring it into an entirely new era and format.
“In 1986, the Federal government developed a policy that it would only continue to fund tertiary institutes of a certain minimum size,” Alistair explains.
He says that the College’s Council recognised that it had no chance of reaching this threshold, so it needed to find a university partner that would continue its long tradition of excellence – one that stretched back to 1881 - as well as its forward-looking approach.
“Suffice to say that it was eventually Monash that was pleased to accept the Victorian College of Pharmacy with the status of a Faculty,” Alistair says.
“It was a great pleasure to work with Alistair to amicably sort out the transition from the VCP being a ‘jewel in the crown’ of the Pharmaceutical Society of Victoria, to a fully-fledged faculty of Monash University,” notes the then-Dean of the College of Pharmacy, Colin Chapman. “With us both based at the Parkville campus, discussions were frequent and the transition smooth, and we worked on many projects together.”
Among these were extending the Bachelor of Pharmacy from three to four years to enhance clinical and experiential training. New undergraduate and postgraduate courses were created, including a combined Pharmacy and Commerce program, and a set of expected competencies for pharmacists entering the profession was developed.
Two Parkville campus buildings (owned by the Pharmaceutical Society but used by the College) underwent major refurbishment, and initial discussions were held with regards to a new purpose-built research facility at Monash.
Securing the future
Early on in his career, Alistair says he saw the efforts of another 'giant', Sir Eric Scott. In the 1950s, Scott had helped secure a proper campus for the College in Parkville by raising funds from the profession, including the international pharmaceutical industry.
Alistair took this example on board when, in 2001, he worked with Professor Chapman to co-found both an alumni association and the Victorian College of Pharmacy Foundation. The foundation’s role was to encourage and promote excellence in education, study, teaching and research in the College. Alistair was appointed the inaugural chairman and worked with Neil Naismith, John Ware OAM and Professor Chapman to enhance relationships with pharmacy alumni, key industry stakeholders and friends.
Alistair says one of the Foundation’s early discussions was around what its primary goal was. “Some suggested it should be for the College ‘to become acknowledged as the best school of pharmacy in the world,’” he remembers.
“Others thought this might be regarded as over-ambitious and pretentious. So the statement was eventually amended to ‘assist the College to become accepted as one of the best in the world.
“It is now clear that since then, the entire staff, led by Colin Chapman and subsequent Deans - Bill Charman and Arthur Christopoulos – were sure the College could do better than that.”
The man himself
While receiving an Honorary Doctorate may cap off a great career, it is not the first time the significance of Alistair’s contribution to the profession has been recognised. In 1996, he received the very first Pharmacist of the Year Award from the Pharmacy Board of Victoria. In 2001, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for “service to the pharmacy profession and patient care”. Then, in 2008, he received a Monash Distinguished Alumni Award.
Despite his many achievements, Alistair’s peers and colleagues say that it is his qualities as a person that really make him stand out. They respect him as a friend just as much as they do professionally.
Professor Bill Charman notes that Alistair is “gentlemanly and professional and always listens to what others have to say”.
“He is also a captain – a real leader. He can pull people together for his cause.”
“He is just a fine person, and he always thinks about others first,” adds John Coppock. “He always had the best interests of pharmacy at heart, but also the best interests of the public, the population, and the population’s health.”
“He knows he isn’t perfect, so if there is opposition, he listens to it, takes it on board and, if necessary, improves his views. He never sees himself as the fount of all knowledge.”
Contributions recognised with Honorary Doctorate Dr Alistair Lloyd was awarded an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Laws; Honoris Causa) from Monash University in October 2022. Dr Lloyd was recognised for his many outstanding and valuable contributions to the pharmacy profession as a community pharmacist and in various senior leadership roles with the Pharmaceutical Society of Victoria and the profession. |
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Meanwhile, his former colleague at the Pharmaceutical Society and Pharmacy Board of Victoria, Judy Sinclair, says that Alistair combines an exceptional mind with compassion and devotion.
“His brilliance, kindness, loyalty, passion, patience – his amazing disposition stood out to me. I have never seen someone think and write so quickly and brilliantly with such ease.”
But it is Nariel Ware, his friend, former colleague and wife of the late John Ware OAM, who perhaps best sums up what makes Alistair Lloyd one of a kind.
“He’s professional but also very down to earth. He can speak to anyone and relate to them on their level,” she says. “I remember when he was running late for a job interview for the position of Executive Officer of the College, and he couldn’t find a taxi anywhere. He convinced the driver of a passing brewery truck to pick him up and take him to the interview, so he arrived at the headquarters stepping out of the brewery truck.”
“Of course, he got the job, but it just shows the kind of man he is: entrepreneurial, ingenious, charming and committed to doing whatever it takes.”
