August 23, 2025
AUBURN, Alabama - Remembered for her passion for patient care and teaching pharmacy students, Dr. Anne Marie Liles left a lasting impression. A member of the Auburn University Harrison College of Pharmacy Class of 2005, she sadly passed on August 23, 2018.
To carry her spirit and memory forward, alumni and friends of the Harrison College of Pharmacy have established the Dr. Anne Marie Liles '05 Memorial Endowed Scholarship . The scholarship will be awarded to Pharm.D. students, continuing Liles’ legacy as an advocate for patients and a mentor to students.
“Anne Marie’s passion was helping others, particularly students, and it is fitting that her memory lives on through student scholarship support,” said Dr. Leigh Ann Ross, dean of the Harrison College of Pharmacy. “In every setting, she always thought of others - her students, colleagues, and the patients she served, embracing all with kindness and compassion. Anne Marie was an outstanding mentor and educator and provided meaningful service to advance our profession. She had a tremendous impact on my life, both personally and professionally, and I am forever grateful. We are excited to continue her legacy through the pharmacy students supported by this endowment.”
Liles received her B.S. in Biochemistry from Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina before coming to HCOP for her Pharm.D. Upon graduation, she completed an ASHP Accredited Specialty Residency in Primary Care at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi and returned to HCOP as a faculty member in 2006. During her time at HCOP, she practiced with the University of Alabama at Birmingham Division of Nephrology at The Kirklin Clinic, a chronic kidney disease clinic.
In 2014, she transitioned to the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy where she served as a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Services in the Student Health Pharmacy. Just prior to her passing, she had accepted a new position as Director of Experiential Affairs.
Beloved by students and colleagues, she made an impact as a mentor, friend and a pharmacist. Among those she directly impacted are current HCOP faculty members Dr. Elizabeth Covington and Dr. Rebecca Maxson, both of whom were students under Liles.
“Dr. Liles was a role model to me and an exemplar of clinical pharmacy excellence. As a P2 at HCOP, I had the privilege of shadowing her at the Kirklin Clinic and in just a few days, I was struck by her depth of clinical knowledge, her compassionate and skillful patient interactions, and the meaningful impact she made on patients’ health every single day,” said Covington. “That experience helped solidify my decision to pursue a career in clinical pharmacy. I’m incredibly grateful for the time she shared with us, and I now strive to offer the same opportunity to as many students as I can—because of her example.”
For Maxson, a member of the HCOP Class of 2008 and a supporter of the scholarship, she had the opportunity to learn under Liles as a student and even followed in her path to nephrology. Upon Liles’ departure from HCOP in 2014, Maxson joined the HCOP faculty a year later, practicing at the same clinical site – the Kirklin Clinic at UAB.
“Anne Marie was my teacher and preceptor who then became my trusted mentor and cherished friend,” said Maxson. “As her former student, I benefited from her great skills as a teacher, pharmacist, mentor and friend. I love that future students can benefit financially from a scholarship in her name and hopefully are impacted directly from my work as a faculty member at HCOP who strives to emulate Dr Liles’ example.”
Liles was active in the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) and had been selected to chair the Pharmacy Practice Section prior to her passing. To keep her memory going, the AACP Pharmacy Practice Section established the Anne Marie Liles Distinguished Service Award.
A recognized leader in the pharmacy world, Liles was also posthumously named a Fellow of American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) in 2018, honoring the commitment and excellence she showed as a clinical pharmacist.
From sharing her medication expertise in renal disease to advancing innovative pharmacy clinical models and services at the Ole Miss Student Health Center to her service in helping others manage diabetes, Liles’ presence resonated deeply. She was passionate about student pharmacists, developing tomorrow’s experts, advocates and leaders.
“I had Anne Marie as a student and saw her passion for patients and teaching. It was such a pleasure to then have the opportunity to work with her as a faculty colleague at HCOP,” said Dr. Kristi Kelley. “She truly cared for patients and students and giving to the scholarship in her memory is a way for me to support students that will be my colleagues in the future. I cannot help but think that one of the students we are supporting will be the next one to follow in Anne Marie's footsteps positively impacting patients.”
To support Harrison College of Pharmacy students through the Dr. Anne Marie Liles '05 Memorial Endowed Scholarship, visit https://aub.ie/annemarie .
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Auburn University's Harrison College of Pharmacy is ranked among the top 20 percent of all colleges of pharmacy in the United States, according to U.S. News & World Report. Fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), the College offers doctoral degrees in pharmacy (Pharm.D.) and pharmaceutical sciences (Ph.D.) while also offering a master's in pharmaceutical sciences and a bachelor’s in drug and biopharmaceutical sciences. The College’s commitment to world-class scholarship and interdisciplinary research speaks to Auburn’s overarching Carnegie R1 designation that places Auburn among the top 100 doctoral research universities in the nation. For more information about the College, please call 334.844.8348 or visit http://pharmacy.auburn.edu.