Yorra, a triple Husky with a half-century affiliation with Northeastern, will be honored before a Red Sox game at Fenway Park for his contributions to pharmacy.
His father, Alvin J. Yorra, was a renowned mechanical engineering professor at Northeastern University.
And so Mark Yorra grew up with the ambition of graduating from Northeastern. When he enrolled in 1973, he never anticipated a personal affiliation that continues more than a half-century later.
“People joke that I bleed red and black because I’m a diehard Northeastern person,” says Yorra, a triple Husky who serves as a senior cooperative education coordinator and clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice at his alma mater. “I basically grew up with the school and it’s changed a lot — it’s a very different place than it was many years ago.
“It’s nice to be part of that change.”
Yorra’s contributions to the pharmacy industry will be honored before the Boston Red Sox’ April 18 game at Fenway Park. He will be among a group recognized by the Massachusetts Pharmacists Association and Massachusetts Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
“Your dedication, expertise, and commitment to the pharmacy profession have made a lasting impact on patient care, your communities and your teams,” Ryann Abrams, a Northeastern graduate who serves as president of the Massachusetts Pharmacists Association, wrote to Yorra. “As you step onto the field, know that you are representing not just yourself, but the countless pharmacy professionals who tirelessly serve others every day. We are incredibly proud of you and grateful for all that you do!”
“It was a surprise,” says Yorra, who will be cheered on by 22 family members.
Alvin Yorra taught mechanical engineering at Northeastern from 1955 (the year of Mark Yorra’s birth) until his retirement in 1992.
“I went there as a student, as did my two brothers,” says Mark Yorra, whose parents live in the Boston area. “All four of my kids — Jessica, Katey, Mike and Liza — went to Northeastern.”
Yorra’s wife, Nancy, joined him in earning a doctor of education (Ed.D.) at Northeastern.
“My wife went to Northeastern to get a speech language pathology degree,” Yorra says. “And then she got an Ed.D. with me. She finished one semester earlier than I did.”
Though Yorra wanted to follow his father to Northeastern, he wasn’t necessarily interested in pursuing the same area of study.
“I was pretty good in math — I have the math genes — but I didn’t want to be in engineering, because then my father would know everybody and everything,” Yorra says with a smile. “At that time I was interested in health care, and pharmacy was a fairly new program at Northeastern. They started the pharmacy program in 1965. So I said let me try pharmacy. And here I am, 40 years later.”
Yorra was relatively new to his studies when he began working at a drugstore in his hometown of Randolph, Massachusetts, a half-hour from Northeastern.
“The two pharmacists there were very good mentors and preceptors, and it was nice being part of the community,” Yorra says. “You got to know everybody. You would drive around and deliver prescriptions.
“Back then there were not many 24-hour pharmacies. So if somebody needed medication, they would call the pharmacist and he would call the police. They would all meet at the drugstore and open up at 2 a.m. if necessary. It was very much a community service pharmacy.”
After graduating in 1978, Yorra worked in a variety of pharmacy settings for more than a decade.
“And then the job opened up at Northeastern,” he says of the opportunity to teach. “They knew me because I was always an involved alumnus and I helped out with school events. And having different [work] experiences made me well-connected in the hospital and community and chain pharmacy areas.”
While teaching at Northeastern, he also maintained a working relationship at a long-term acute care hospital.
“I did that part time just to keep my hands in it,” Yorra says. “Every third weekend I would be on call. I did that for 20 years while I worked at Northeastern — until five years ago, when they closed the hospital and tore down the building to build condos.”
In addition to teaching undergraduate health care management and a health care capstone in the College of Professional Studies, Yorra also contributes to an introductory course in the pharmacy profession.
“When I got into this position I said, ‘We’re going to teach students some basic terminology and nomenclature, some basic calculations and the top 100 drugs,’” Yorra says. “So I started to do that informally, and then it became more of a formal course.
“Now there’s a new version — Principles of Pharmacy Practice — which is a mix of different skill sets to get the kids ready for their first co-op,” Yorra says of the team-taught undergraduate course. “I teach the students co-op related materials — how to dress, how to answer questions in different types of settings, as well as pharmacy practice skills.”
“Over the years I’ve been very involved with the students,” Yorra says. “A lot of what I did as an adviser was to get the students involved in professional activities and build [a sense of] community outside of the school itself. I told the students, ‘Have some fun while you’re here. That’s the beauty of being in a big university.’”
He has taken students to the American Pharmacists Association’s annual meeting in different cities every March and on a summer day trip to Martha’s Vineyard for more than 20 years.
“I’ve done a lot of student-focused activities,” Yorra says. “I think the kids really enjoy that because they remember those things. They remember the fun times.”