Featuring Tim Frost, PharmD: Toward Pharmacist Full Practice Authority
The 2025 Francis S. Balassone Memorial Lecture will be Nov. 19 at 1 p.m., with a luncheon at noon. The lecture will be in-person in Pharmacy Hall, Room N103.
RSVP for lunch preference by Nov. 7
 |
Tim Frost is a Senior Fellow at the Cicero Institute, specializing in healthcare, regulatory reform, and artificial intelligence policy. Tim is the founder of 50 Elixir, a healthcare strategy consultancy focused on innovative, bold solutions to solve the toughest problems in healthcare. He formerly served as Chief of Staff to the Idaho Attorney General and Deputy Administrator of Idaho’s Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses, overseeing all healthcare regulatory boards. Tim graduated with a PharmD from the University of Toledo in Ohio and completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Pacific University in Oregon. |
About the Francis S. Balassone Memorial Lecture
The Francis S. Balassone Memorial Lecture was established in 1976 by the Maryland Pharmacists Association and the School’s Alumni Association in memory of Francis Balassone, an alumnus of the Class of 1940, and a faculty member at the School. Balassone was executive secretary of the Maryland Board of Pharmacy and was instrumental in establishing the first School-based pharmacy student externship program in the nation.
Francis S. Balassone was born in 1915 in Thomas, West Virginia. After graduating from high school, he worked in coal mines near his home to aid his family and to further his education, which led to a successful career in pharmacy. As a result, the pharmacy profession has benefited greatly.
In 1940, he earned a BS in pharmacy from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. He then worked for two Baltimore drug firms: the Standard Pharmaceutical Corp. and the Yager Drug Co. Balassone interrupted his pharmaceutical career to enlist as a private in the U.S. Marines, serving in World War II. He was discharged as a captain in 1946, and, during the next five years, he returned to Yager and joined the teaching staff at his alma mater.
Balassone was owner-manager of the Overlea Pharmacy in Baltimore from 1951 to 1956. Subsequently, he served for nearly two decades as commissioner and secretary-treasurer of the Maryland Board of Pharmacy; chief of the Division of Drug Control, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; and acting director of the Bureau of Consumer Health Protection.
In addition, he was a delegate of the United States Pharmacopeial Convention; delegate of the Office of Emergency Planning, Executive Office of the President; president of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy; member of the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education; president of the Central Atlantic States Association of Food and Drug Officials; and chair of the Program Area Committee on Drugs, American Public Health Association.
Balassone served as secretary and president of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Alumni Association and later as president of the Baltimore branch of the American Pharmaceutical Association. He also was a leader in the development of state drug laws.
Under Balassone’s leadership, Maryland became the first state in the nation to replace the traditional pharmacy internship with an academic professional experience program. He collaborated with the School of Pharmacy in the development of the University of Maryland professional pharmacy program.
Awards conferred on Balassone include the School of Pharmacy Alumni Association Honored Alumnus and merit awards, and the Harvey W. Wiley Award, the nation’s highest award in the field of drugs, food, and cosmetics law.