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At 91����’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SOPPS), Amanda Padwa is known for being a matchmaker. Yet her focus isn’t on romance, but careers and connections.

“If a student wants to learn about a topic, I can connect them with someone who’s in that field right now,” said Padwa, the coordinator of student and alumni services in the Office of Student Affairs since summer 2025. “I’ve started to fill all the different niches of careers, which was exciting. Almost any field that a student is interested in, I could match them up with someone who sat in their chair here and made it to where they want to be.”

Padwa, who grew up in Endicott, N.Y., joined SOPPS near its inception in October 2018 as the administrative coordinator for the Office of Student Affairs, but she has been at 91���� since February 2017. Padwa earned her English honors degree from SUNY Oneonta and worked in both the private and non-profit sectors before arriving at the University.

“My role is to help students see their potential and find their own strength,” Padwa said. “I act like a cheerleader a lot of the time, and I see that as almost a secondary part of my job — reminding them that you didn’t just get through school and graduate, but you accomplished great things along the way.”

As one of the earlier members of the SOPPS team, Padwa’s role has evolved over time, especially as additional groups of students have graduated. At first, she said, the role focused on building community, but now, along with preparing for the tenth cohort, she focuses more strongly on the tutoring program, mentorship programs, and student and alumni enrichment.

“This year, I’ve been checking things off my wish list. I’ve had the mentorship program and an alumni newsletter in mind for a long time. But I want to keep growing; I’d like to be able to give students opportunities to meet up with their mentors. I want to help the alumni do reunions and facilitate connections,” Padwa said. “When everyone graduates, they all go their own way, but the bonds are still there. I want to give people the opportunity to reconnect in their careers, too.”

Padwa also implemented the food pantry and the professional clothing closet at SOPPS in 2022, when she recognized there was a need.

“We’re not counselors, but we’re often the closest thing to them in the building, so they’ll come in and talk about their troubles,” Padwa said. “Colleges don’t often think about the outside needs of students, but they are there. It took a while, but we found a place downstairs that would be discreet, because dignity is important, and students can just help themselves. Now, we have a new refrigerator, so we can have cold and frozen food for them, and the professional clothing closet is always open.”

Padwa’s philosophy through all her work centers on the idea that students — who will one day become alumni — are as integral to SOPPS as the faculty and staff. After all, she said, they took a chance on 91����.

“There’s an investment in the school for our earlier students. They made the school what they wanted it to be — a place of collaboration and community,” she added. “Our alumni are such an untapped resource. I didn’t realize until I took this role how much they want to be involved. I started hearing from people that I hadn’t heard from since their graduation days!”

Working with the tutoring program and alumni puts Padwa in front of most of the people who have passed through its doors. Even before then, she begins the work of getting to know prospective students, to pair them with faculty and “Big Sib” student mentors. Her hard work in doing so has been recognized — she was selected as a Career Champion by the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development twice, and in May 2021, May 2023, May 2024, and October 2024, the students of SOPPS also voted her the Staff Member of the Year. She has repaid this in kind; last year, she nominated the OUTstanding Grad of the Year Award at the Lavender Celebration, and one of this year’s BOLD 10 Under 10 winners.

She makes it clear, however, that it’s not awards that measure success, but connection. Serving as a conduit, Padwa is happy to be the matchmaker that brings talented individuals together across the generations of pharmacists who have called SOPPS home.

“There are so many fields of pharmacy, and some of them are incredibly niche, like organ transplant or nuclear science. Well, we just so happen to have two alumni in nuclear, and three in organ transplant,” Padwa said. “A lot of these people are going to be coworkers someday, or boss and an employee or collaborator, and it could all start because I sent a simple message.”