Jim Hunter
San Diego – The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) today bestowed its prestigious Harold W. Pratt Award to industry leader Jim Hunter, vice president of supplier services, QuintilesIMS, during the Business Program at the 2017 National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Total Store Expo.
Hunter began his career as a teacher in Pennsylvania and later moved on to a successful career in sales with Avis. He went on to becomes a district sales manager for Gillette and then joined Bristol-Myers Squibb as a director of national accounts. Hunter then moved to Novo Nordisk for 15 years before joining QuintilesIMS US, which provides integrated information and technology-enabled healthcare services, in 1983.
Harold W. Pratt—for whom the award is named—dedicated himself to many years of service at Walgreens, becoming the industry’s first director of professional services. Over the course of his 43 years of service to Walgreens, Pratt came to be recognized as the “dean” of pharmacy professional service directors. He worked tirelessly to grow and promote pharmacy operations.
The Pratt Award was established in 1985 by the NACDS Board of Directors and recognizes individuals whose activities have contributed to the promotion, recognition and improvement of the practice of pharmacy within the chain drug industry.
“Jim is a great motivator of people and he makes everyone feel good about what they do. He is a mentor and motivator to the team and an industry ambassador,” said NACDS President & CEO Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE, in presenting the award.
Saying “what better recognition of an individual than from his peers,” Anderson quoted Hunter’s colleagues and friends in recognizing his many and diverse contributions.
For example, Hossam Sadek, president of QuintilesIMS US & Canada, said, “He is a great mentor and taught a lot of people—including me—everything they know about the pharmacy retail industry.”
Anderson also recognized two prior Pratt Award honorees who were present at the Business Program, 2004 recipient Bob Verscharen of the Eckerd Corporation and 2012 recipient Doug Long of QuintilesIMS. Anderson also acknowledged the recent passing of Charlie Burnett of Costco Pharmacies, who received the Pratt Award in 2007.
