When Flynn Wilford Warren Jr. started his career at Georgia as a University graduate student, he wrote his goal was to become a college pharmacy professor.

When he retired in July after four decades in Athens, not only was he a clinical professor of pharmacy, but he also had served as the college’s assistant dean for student affairs.

Along the way, Warren, 66, experienced several highs, such as being named pharmacy professor of the year in 2004, and most recently a low when he was named as a defendant in a U.S. District Court case. But there has been one constant – the respect of his colleagues and students.

“He is overall one of the most impactful professors I have had. He is very student-oriented and very personal,” University pharmacy graduate student Alex Ward said.

“I have personally known Flynn Warren since 1985 and found him to be one of the most admired and beloved pharmacy professors in this state,” said Jim Bracewell, executive vice president and CEO of the Georgia Pharmacy Association, a professional organization that represents Georgia pharmacists. “His love and passion for the profession sets a standard for others in academia to emulate. He is one the most knowledgeable individuals on pharmaceutical laws in the state.”

Warren declined to comment for this story. The Red & Black learned of his career path through an open records request for his University personnel file.

Warren arrived at the University in the fall of 1964, when Lyndon B. Johnson was U.S. president and the present-day College of Pharmacy building just had opened.

His University records show a member of the admissions committee had doubts if Warren could handle the academic challenges. Despite a two-year break from school he took to take care of his wife, Warren proved himself capable. By the beginning of the 1967 school year, he was an instructor while still in graduate school.

He exhibited early on his knowledge was practical and not just academic.

In June 1969, Warren was asked to identify a poison in a weed killer digested by a 2-year-old patient of Dr. James Maxwell after the clinical laboratory at St. Mary’s and Athens General hospitals could not set up the test.

Warren correctly performed the test and saved valuable time. An unsigned memo in Warren’s personnel file praises him highly: “Dr. Maxwell later stated at the hospital that had it not been for the performance of the identification test for the performance of the identification test that afternoon, he would not have administered the needed antidote until after the presence of the arsenic could have been confirmed by sending a sample to Atlanta for analysis on Monday. He was most grateful to all involved.”

Maxwell, now 74 and retired from the medical practice, said Warren was a valued member of the Athens medical community. The two developed a professional relationship that flourished when Warren interned at St. Mary’s.

“He was just smart, and yet he was down to earth. He was just an average good-old guy,” Maxwell told The Red & Black during a phone interview on Tuesday. “If I had a problem I would go down and talk to him about it. I always felt that he was a very intelligent person. Everybody got along with him.”

Warren’s career was not limited to the South.

In 1977, Warren left the University and took a position as the head of Pharmacy at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. For nearly eight years Warren spent time in the Middle East as an administrator, teacher and tourist. According to an exit form signed by then College of Pharmacy Dean Howard Ansel, Warren’s new job offered career advancement and more money.

But even a world away, Warren kept in touch with the University.

Letters on Ansel’s side show a continual correspondence. In a letter dated in May 1979, Ansel thanks Warren for a “recent travelogue” he enjoyed reading. In all letters, Ansel begins by calling Warren by his first name.

The personal relationship aided in Warren’s return to the University in 1985 when Ansel offered Warren a position on the faculty as a clinical pharmacy associate.

“Flynn, we are all very much looking forward to having you back with us as a contributing member of the faculty,” Ansel wrote.

Once back in Athens, Warren became an influential figure promoting pharmacy both at the University and in the state. He was active in the Georgia Pharmacy Association and served on the board from 1989 to 1992. Warren has held more than 36 elected offices or appointed positions throughout the college, state and federal levels of pharmacy. He was named the first assistant dean for student affairs at the College of Pharmacy in 2001 where he oversaw admissions and counseled students. He served in that post while also teaching until his retirement, though he still teaches part-time and maintains an office at the college.

Now with the legal case pending, Warren’s legacy at the University is up for debate. But not among students.

It should be no surprise that pharmacy students show support and attribute their success to his advice and teachings. After the lawsuit was made public in August, students left a message for Warren on the whiteboard hanging from his door that said, “We ‘heart’ U Flynn.”

In the Aug. 31 edition of The Red & Black, 12 Pharmacy graduate candidates, including Ward, co-signed a Letter to the Editor that praised the professor: “Flynn Warren has dedicated his life to advancing the pharmacy profession and has contributed greatly to the prestige of the University. No matter the outcome of this trial, we stand behind this great man and thank him for all he has done for us.”

Ward has been outspoken in his support for Warren. After taking five of his classes, Ward said the community needs to know Warren is all about helping the students.

“Honestly, few people know more about the practice of pharmacy than he does,” Ward said Tuesday during an interview with The Red & Black.

After Warren filled out his notice for retirement, he informed Dean Svein Oie that teaching was still his passion.

“I have enjoyed working at the College of Pharmacy for almost 43 years, off and on, and intend to maintain an active association in retirement,” Warren wrote.

His longtime friends support him, too.

Maxwell kept up with the legal matter via newspapers saying, “I hope he comes out of this OK.”

“I hope the profession and its leaders do not rush to judgment,” Bracewell said Thursday. “Recently a Georgian by the name Richard Jewell passed away. He is most remembered as being accused of the 1996 Olympic Park bombing when later it was proven he was really the hero of the day. To many practicing pharmacists and students, Flynn Warren is a hero.”