March 30, 2020

David Pitts earns WSU President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching

Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences David Pitts has received the 2020 President's Award for Excellence in Teaching from Wayne State University. 

Awards are presented to outstanding faculty who, to an exceptionally high degree, demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of their subject, superior classroom performance and high educational standards; communicate their subject matter effectively; generate enthusiasm and respect for learning; motivate students to excel; and are accessible to students. The 2020 awards come with a cash prize of $2,500 and a plaque. 

“Since joining Wayne State an assistant professor in 1990, Dr. Pitts has exemplified dedication and passion for teaching,” said Chair and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences George Corcoran. “This is captured in the veneration of his students, the admiration of his colleagues, a long history of pedagogical innovation, and the high impact he has made on our goal of teaching excellence.” 

Pitts is the director of the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences pharmaceutical sciences curriculum and the PharmD program’s Research Scholars track. He is the faculty advisor to the Pharmacy Class of 2020 and the Student Pharmacist Diversity Council, which developed the Student Pharmacists Inclusion Network (SPIN) mentoring program.

Over his career, Pitts has received Pharmacy Teacher of the Year awards in 2007, 2008 and 2009; a WSU Applebaum Teacher of the Year award in 2008; Pharmacy Faculty Recognition Awards in 2015 and 2018; and Pharmacy Professor of the Year in 2016.  

In addition to teaching and research in pharmaceutical sciences, Pitts has served as a mentor for countless students of all levels, from undergraduates to post-doctoral researchers, spanning myriad programs across the university.

He teaches environmental toxicology and the sustainable use of chemicals in Wayne State’s Transformative Research in Urban Sustainability Training (T-RUST) program at Wayne State, and helped develop the T-RUST course Sustainability of Urban Environmental Systems.

In 2013, Pitts launched the transdisciplinary course Pharmaceutical Waste: Environmental Impact and Management, which is co-taught with Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Shawn McElmurry and serves students from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering and WSU Applebaum. The course includes tours of Detroit water infrastructure and offers a synthesis of toxicology, engineering, ecology and environmental law.

Pitts’ research centers on the impact of water contaminants on environmental health and human health, the development of bioassay systems for evaluating water quality, and the regulatory role of neurotransmitter systems associated with the behavior and physiology of aquatic organisms (e.g., Daphnia, the waterflea). Every year since 2012, he has represented Wayne State in the Detroit River Water Festival.

Pitts is also a two-time Wayne State University alumnus, having earned an M.S. in biology in 1977 and a PhD in pharmacology in 1985. 

Although the university’s in-person Academic Recognition Ceremony has been postponed indefinitely, honorees will be celebrated virtually on May 4. The program is available here.

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