by Audrey Maynard

When Joseph “Joe” Veltri, BPharm ʼ71, PharmD ʼ77, stood before colleagues and students to receive the Lawrence C. and Delores M. Weaver College of Pharmacy Recognition Award in March, the honor represented far more than a distinguished career. It was the culmination of nearly six decades of connection to the University of Utah—as a student, educator, mentor, and benefactor.

For Joe and his wife, Liz Veltri, the moment signified something foundational: a lifetime shaped by perseverance, partnership, and the belief that education transforms lives.

Both Joe and Liz share strikingly similar childhoods. They lost their fathers when they were young, and each was raised by a single mother in the 1950s, a time when that reality required incredible resilience. Joe grew up in San Francisco where his mother worked as a registered nurse. Liz was raised in Helper, Utah, her mother the town’s librarian.

“Our moms were professional women, but nurses and librarians have never been notorious for having a ton of money,” Liz says. “We never lacked for food, clothing, or anything like that, but we were certainly not affluent.”

What Joe and Liz did have was a clear mandate to work hard and pursue their education. For Joe, that path led to the University of Utah in 1966, as the US combat mission in Vietnam intensified. He had considered attending the Air Force Academy but ultimately decided against it. If he did not enroll in college, his chance of being drafted was high.

Joe’s extended family lived in Helper—Liz, coincidentally, grew up knowing many of them—and his uncle owned the local pharmacy.

“He said, ‘Attend the university here in Utah and enroll in the College of Pharmacy. Figure out what you want to do with your life,’” Joe recalls.

So that’s what he did. In September 1966, Joe began the pre-pharmacy program at the U and supported himself by working in the laboratory at Holy Cross Hospital. There he met Liz, who was employed at the hospital as a registered nurse. The two married in 1969.

Liz recalls those early years as happy ones. She and Joe settled into a top-floor unit of a Victorian home in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake, close to work and school. Money was tight, but they didn’t mind. All their friends were in the same boat.

“We didn’t have much, but we had a bunch of other poor friends, and we played a lot of cards,” she laughs.

After Joe graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 1971, he and Liz moved to Helper where Joe began working in his uncle’s pharmacy. Coming from San Francisco, life in Helper presented a challenging change of pace for Joe.

Word of Joe’s dissatisfaction reached Ewart Swinyard, PhD, then-dean of the U’s College of Pharmacy. At the time, pharmacy education across the country was expanding, with some schools granting doctor of pharmacy degrees in addition to bachelor’s degrees. Swinyard was considering whether this model would be right for Utah and invited Joe and other recent graduates to return to the university for a year of clinical training to test the concept.

“It sounded interesting, so several of us newly minted pharmacists took Ewart up on his offer,” Joe says. “It didn’t come with a degree or certificate, but he did pay our tuition.”

Joe and his peers participated in several hospital rotations, rounding with medical students, house staff, and attending physicians. Joe loved the collaborative nature of this work and the opportunity to become directly involved in patient care.

One of Joe’s rotations placed him in the early stages of what would become the Utah Poison Control Center where he worked under the mentorship of pediatrician Anthony Temple, MD ’68, and pharmacologist David George. Upon completion of this rotation, he asked his mentors if additional training were available. They explained there was not; if Joe wanted a future in poison control, he’d have to learn on the job.

“I was offered the managing director position at the Poison Control Center where we’d field calls, mostly from parents, who were in a panic because their child had ingested something like medication or household chemicals,” he explains. “But what really resonated with me was when I’d consult with physicians on critically ill overdose patients. Being part of a successful outcome was key in my decision to pursue this career.”

Under Joe’s leadership, the poison control program grew quickly, and he and his team laid the foundation for the world-class public resource it is today. At the same time, Swinyard invited Joe to join the College of Pharmacy as an instructor, teaching a didactic course in clinical toxicology. Joe eventually appealed to Swinyard for a promotion, which was met with a blunt response.

“He said, ‘Joe, you have a bachelor’s degree, and I would never bring anybody up for promotion in this college who didn’t have a doctorate or at least a post-bachelor’s degree,’” he recalls. “So that was it. I’d either stay on as an instructor or go back to school.”

Those years required Joe to work many nights and weekends, and he credits Liz for always being there to provide steady support. While continuing her own nursing career, she managed their home and cared for their two young children, Nikki and Chuck.

“There were many times when I came home and the kids were already asleep,” Joe recalls. “But after four years, I earned my PharmD and became a professor. Liz had my back the whole way—she always believed in what I was doing.”

Over time, Joe’s work in poison control expanded beyond Utah. During a sabbatical in the early 1980s, he worked with the US Food and Drug Administration in Maryland to help create a national system for collecting poisoning exposure data from poison control centers across the country. The effort allowed centers to share information and track emerging trends in toxic exposures nationwide.

After 18 months, Joe returned to his position at the U, leading the Poison Control Center until 1992 and teaching in the College of Pharmacy until his retirement in 2002. Later that year, he accepted a position as director of medical affairs for the consumer products division at GlaxoSmithKline in New Jersey. Liz decided to remain in Utah to care for her elderly mother in the final years of her life.

“There are a lot of commuter marriages in the pharmaceutical industry—that’s just the way it is,” she says. “Joe was supportive of my decision to stay in Utah. Family is everything to us, and he knew I needed to be here for my mom.”

Joe retired from GlaxoSmithKline in 2015, which opened up space for him and Liz to reflect on their lives and the opportunities they had received. Their children were grown, their home and cars were paid for, and they were required to begin withdrawing funds from their IRA. What began as a practical decision soon became something more intentional.

“We realized we had more than we needed,” Joe says. “And instead of letting that money sit or using it in ways that didn’t matter as much, we decided to put it toward something that did.”

After speaking with their financial advisor and advancement professionals at the university, the Veltris established the Joseph and Elizabeth Veltri Family Endowed Scholarship in the College of Pharmacy in 2023. The first scholarship was awarded during the 2025–26 academic year, and Joe and Liz look forward to supporting more students as they continue contributing to the fund.

“Joe and I were both raised in Italian families, in communities that offered a lot of support,” Liz says. “Not everybody has that, so we started thinking of ways we could help young people fulfill their dreams.”

For Joe, the decision to give back is rooted not only in gratitude but in a deep, lifelong connection to the university and the values it represents.

“This experience has given us a sense of community, a sense of belonging to this organization,” he says. “I think it’s important for people to remember that you don’t have to be wealthy to make a difference in the lives of others. Just find a cause that touches you and give back in whatever way you can.”