Hugo H. Schaefer Award
2026 Hugo H. Schaefer Award Recipient
Hae Mi Choe,PharmD
Hae Mi Choe, PharmD was chief population health officer for Michigan Medicine, associate dean for pharmacy innovations and partnerships at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy, and executive director of the Michigan Institute for Care Management & Transformation. A national leader in transforming team-based care, she established a scalable clinical pharmacist practice across 14 health centers and pioneered reimbursement pathways now used across Michigan. She also led a pharmacist-embedded hypertension care model, so successful the CDC named it a best practice and began scaling it nationally. An award-winning mentor and innovator, Dr. Choe trained at UC San Diego, UCSF, and Kaiser Permanente.
About
The Hugo H. Schaefer Award was established by the American Pharmacists Association in 1964 to
honor the long-time APhA Treasurer, Hugo H. Schaefer, for a lifetime of contributions to the
profession of pharmacy and in particular for his service to APhA. The purpose of the award is to
recognize an individual who has made outstanding voluntary contributions to society as well as
to the profession of pharmacy and APhA.
Nomination criteria
The nominee must be an APhA Member who has made outstanding voluntary contributions to society,
the profession of pharmacy, and APhA. Remington Honor Medalists are not eligible.
Nomination process
The nominator is responsible for submitting a complete award nomination.
The nomination is to include the following items:
A letter from the nominator describing the most important achievements of the nominee and
explaining why the nominee meets the criteria for the award
Letters of recommendation are optional; two letters are preferred with a maximum of six letters
accepted
A current curriculum vitae or detailed résumé
Selection process
The selection is made by the APhA Board of Trustees based upon careful review of complete
nominations.
Nature of award
The award, presented at the APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition, consists of a medal bearing the
likeness of Hugo H. Schaefer mounted on a wooden base, which is inscribed with the recipient’s
name and date of presentation. The recipient also receives a complimentary APhA Annual Meeting
& Exposition registration and reimbursement for meeting-related travel expenses, according
to current travel policies and up to the maximum amount budgeted by APhA.
Past Recipients
2025 Dr. Rosalyn C. King, PharmD
2023 Ruth A. Smarinsky, PharmD
1984 George B. Griffenhagen
1971 Harry C. Shirkey, MD
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