Margaret (Peggy) Hrinya, a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1988, is from Brockway, PA. While in high school, Hrinya worked in a community pharmacy. When Hrinya, who was class valedictorian, entered the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Pharmacy in 1961, she found an atmosphere of camaraderie among the 27 students and their professors. Hrinya admired Dr. Rose Goldfield, "a tough, excellent biochemistry teacher," and Dr. William Kinnard, a pharmacology teacher "who could lecture for hours–perfectly organized and without any notes." Hrinya’s first job after graduation was at McKennan’s, a traditional pharmacy in Pittsburgh, where pharmacists made cold cream, capsules, suppositories, and many powder papers. She learned about the business side of pharmacy from her mentors, Frank Schmidt, George Kelly, and Dave First. After three years, Hrinya moved to Sun Drug. Six months later she accepted a job at Falk Clinic and now manages three pharmacies, with over 40 employees, thirteen of whom are pharmacists. Hrinya is currently the director of Pharmacy Operations for Rx Partners. She is also the pharmacy manager at Falk Clinic Pharmacy. Hrinya states she has witnessed many changes in the profession. During the 1960’s computers were not commonly used for forms, pricing, or labels.

In fact, drug names were not printed on medication containers and no one spoke to patients about their medications. When the law mandated labeling of medication names, pharmacists were required to start to communicate with patients about their medications. This increased the amount of information accessible to patients and dramatically impacted the profession. Hrinya’s achievements include serving as president of the Western Pennsylvania Society of Hospital Pharmacists and serving a three-year presidential term for the Pennsylvania Society of Health System Pharmacists. She participated on the board and served as a presidential officer of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy Alumni Society. During her term of office with the Pennsylvania Society of Health System Pharmacists, she visited different hospitals, met people from other areas of the state, and learned about various opinions and viewpoints from a network of nationally known people. Hrinya believes a pharmacy degree is "good groundwork" and that, in addition to traditional pharmacy, there are many opportunities for graduates. In 1992 Hrinya earned an M.B.A from the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business because she felt that "health care is big business and an M.B.A or a Pharm.D. is now required for any type of management position in hospital pharmacy."