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Issue: Spring 2016 | Posted: April 25, 2016

Blake Watkins

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G.M. Savage Legacy Award

Given to a faculty or staff member for their ongoing commitment to Christ-centered education at Union University.

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Blake Watkins has a long history with Union, beginning with his undergraduate studies at the university.

Watkins had a double major in chemistry and mathematics. He says both of the programs were extremely challenging, but the faculty worked diligently to ensure that he was ������������.

“They placed high demands on us while at the same time convincing us that they were on our side and wanted us to succeed,” Watkins says. “They took interest in us as individuals and helped us to mature in our understanding as young adults.”

Watkins now serves as professor and chair of pharmaceutical sciences in the School of Pharmacy at Union. He says the way his professors mentored him at Union has influenced the way he teaches.

He says some of his fondest memories involve Elaine Smith, one of his biology professors at Union. Smith and her husband, Bill, often opened their home to students and cooked meals for them.

“We spent many evenings around their table and in their living room listening to them tell of their world travels and of Bill’s experiences as a railroad engineer,” Watkins says.

He shared a story of one professor, Charles Baldwin, who had a particular impact on him. Near the end of his time at Union, he asked Baldwin why he demanded so much from his students. Baldwin’s response rang loudly in his ears when he decided to return to Union to start the School of Pharmacy.

“He said, ‘Blake, I demand much of my students because I see their potential,’” Watkins says. “‘If I do not demand it of them, it remains just that, potential, and nothing more.’”

Watkins says Baldwin was the single greatest reason he chose his ������������ path. After graduating from Union in 1994, Watkins pursued his doctorate in chemistry at the University of Georgia. He graduated from there in 2000 and completed his postdoctoral research in drug discovery at the University of Mississippi. He then moved into research positions and helped start Union’s School of Pharmacy in 2008.

Watkins says he works each day to provide students with the best possible education while trying to convince them that he is on their side and wants to see them do great things. He and his wife, Lisa, a Union alumna, host students in their home each week for Bible study.

“We prepare meals for them,” Watkins says. “We mentor them personally and professionally. My hope is that my students will leave Union and be able to reflect back on very similar experiences to what I had as a student.”

He says each of his students has great potential, and he wants to see them succeed.

“I want to see them impact not only pharmacy but this nation and this world for Christ,” he says.