Michael R. Cohen, RPh, MS, ScD (Hon.), DPS (Hon.) graduated with his BS in Pharmacy in 1968 and Masters in Pharmacy Administration in 1984. He is the founder and president emeritus of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), where he served as president for over 30 years. His passion for medication safety began in 1974, following his involvement in a serious insulin-related adverse event at the hospital where he was employed.

Dr. Cohen founded ISMP in 1994 and launched the first of five ISMP Medication Safety Alert! publications in 1997. These newsletters and safety alerts now reach more than one million healthcare professionals in the United States, as well as regulatory authorities and other stakeholders in over 30 countries worldwide.

In 2006, Dr. Cohen was recognized as a MacArthur Fellow by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The Temple University Alumni Association honored him with the School of Pharmacy’s Gallery of Success Award in 2000 and the Certificate of Honor Award in 2001. That same year, he funded an initiative to create drug safety videos in collaboration with the School of Pharmacy, supported by proceeds from his MacArthur “Genius Grant.”

Dr. Cohen has also established two named endowed scholarship funds at the School of Pharmacy: the Hedy G. Cohen, RN, MS Endowed Scholarship Fund, created in 2017 in honor of his wife, and the Dr. Salvatore J. Turco Memorial Scholarship, established in 2021.