The Ohio Northern University Raabe College of Pharmacy will conduct its annual Professional Commitment Ceremony in the ONU Sports Center on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 10:30 a.m.

Hanley Wheeler, senior vice president of field operations for the West Division of CVS/pharmacy, will be the keynote speaker at the event, which marks the transition from the students’ first three years of ONU pharmacy education to their final three professional years.

During the annual Professional Commitment Ceremony, third-year pharmacy students receive their white coats from their pharmacist mentors – a symbol of this milestone in their journeys to become pharmacists. Each student will receive his or her white coat from one of more than 100 alumni who will be on campus to serve as mentors for the students as they progress in the pharmacy profession.

Steven J. Martin, dean of the Raabe College of Pharmacy said, “It is important for our students to have pharmacists as professional mentors – someone they can turn to for advice and guidance in their professional careers and to help them in their professional development and growth.”          

Those third-year students who already have pharmacists serving as their mentors will invite them to coat them at the white coat ceremony, to both honor and continue their relationship. Those students who do not yet have mentors will be matched with pharmacists from a list of alumni and friends of the college who have volunteered to mentor students and participate in the white coat ceremony that day. Efforts will be made to match each student with a pharmacist from a practice background of interest to the student.              

Martin added, “ONU is proud to have a long list of successful pharmacist alumni and friends from a variety of practice backgrounds and experiences who have volunteered to serve as mentors to our students. Our hope is that the professional commitment event will act as a springboard beyond the third year to a continuing relationship where mentors assist students in expanding their knowledge of the pharmacy profession and various career options and guide in their professional development long after graduation.”

In addition to receiving their white coats, students take an oath of professional commitment to signify their commitment to the profession and their future patients.

Wheeler is responsible for strategic oversight and P&L for the field and store organizations in the western half of the United States, and he will assume leadership of the Target Channel pharmacies nationwide. Wheeler is involved in setting strategy for CVS/pharmacy with his role on the Retail Leadership Team, and he partners with field leadership to deliver on this strategy for customers and colleagues.

Wheeler began his career as a pharmacy intern with Revco Drug in Cleveland, Ohio. He held various field management positions with Revco (district manager, region manager, area vice president) and was director of internal operations prior to CVS’ acquisition of Revco in 1997. As an area vice president with CVS, he was responsible for stores in the Midwest as well as the new market entries in Chicago, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Southern California. He was promoted to the role of senior vice president of field operations in 2005.

Wheeler earned his Bachelor of Science from ONU’s College of Pharmacy in 1982. He received the college’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2012.                      

Wheeler recently joined the Ohio Northern University Board of Trustees, and he has recently accepted a position as a board member of the national chapter of the American Lung Association. Wheeler is a past chair of the Board of the Indiana Retail Council, and he resides in Fishers, Ind.