Oscar Pallares, PharmD (’55), a Board of Councilors member with a lifelong commitment to the university and to the profession of pharmacy, died on Friday, April 15 after a battle with myeloma. He was 86.
Pallares and his wife, Mary, have been longtime, generous volunteers and benefactors to the School of Pharmacy. Their giving, which spans nearly six decades, most recently supported the Dean’s Fund for Innovation.
“Dr. Pallares was an incredibly dedicated and loyal individual whose support for USC spans many decades,” says Interim Dean Glen Stimmel. “He was a Trojan through and through, and his support of the School has benefitted countless students. He will be dearly missed at USC School of Pharmacy.”
Pallares graduated in 1955, five years after USC School of Pharmacy became the first PharmD program in the nation. As a student in 1954, he was president of Phi Delta Chi.
The owner of Kenneth Road Pharmacy in Glendale and other independent pharmacies, he was a lifetime member of Phi Delta Chi and one of the earliest members of QSAD Centurion, the premier support group of the USC School of Pharmacy established in 1958 to maintain USC’s excellence as a center of pharmacy education. The organization of pharmacy leaders is focused on providing significant financial support for the School and strengthening relationships between the School, pharmacists, faculty students and the entire healthcare community.
“He was very passionate about supporting independent community pharmacy and supporting the next generation of pharmacists,” says former Dean R. Pete Vanderveen, who noted that Pallares, with Mary by his side, always made a point of coming in person to meetings of QSAD and Board of Councilors, and asking probing, thoughtful questions.
Active in Trojan Athletics, he was a member of USC Associates and a member of Cardinal and Gold. Named Alumnus of the Year in 1986, Pallares received the Fred B. Olds Award from USC Alumni Association in the early 1990s. In 2009, he received the AAAE Alumnus of the Year Award from Phi Delta Chi Omicron Alumni Association. The Pallares’ long-term support of USC School of Pharmacy was recognized again in 2010, at the dedication of the plaza in the School’s Centennial Park.
“He was tremendously committed,” says Patty Wong, president of QSAD Centurion. “He was involved in every aspect of the school and he exuded Trojan Family, USC Pharmacy pride.”
The Pallares’ commitment to the school has become a family tradition: Their daughter Jean Pallares-Leonard, PharmD (’84), Director of Pharmacy and Laboratory Services at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, is an alumni preceptor.
Oscar Pallares is survived by his wife Mary, children Jean, Bernie, Christine, Bob, Bill and Julie, and six grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate contributions to Order of Franciscans in Encino, the USC School of Pharmacy for the Margaret and John Biles Leadership Center, or a charity of the donor’s choice.