When Andrea Fung ’16 was exploring pharmacy programs, she found just what she was looking for on Manchester’s Fort Wayne campus: “Super-friendly” people who welcomed her and small class sizes that allowed her to get to know the faculty.

In turn, Manchester found exactly what it was looking for in Andrea: a quality student who embraced her opportunities, decided to stay in northeast Indiana after graduation, and would stay connected with her alma mater. 

A proud member of MU’s 2016 Doctor of Pharmacy class, Andrea is a staff pharmacist at the Owens North supermarket in Huntington, Ind. She also is the alumni representative for her pharmacy class – Manchester’s first – and she’s signed up to be a preceptor, supervising MU pharmacy students at the Owens pharmacy.

“I wanted to give back because Manchester gave me this opportunity to become who I am today,” says Andrea. “I want to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to be a pharmacist.”

A native of Naperville, Ill., a Chicago suburb, Andrea earned her bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Illinois. Manchester, she says, was a nice change of pace from the large lecture hall classes to which she was accustomed. With its sense of community, MU was the perfect place to focus on her studies and get help from faculty or student mentors. “There was always someone to reach out to,” she says.

And because MU’s approach also involves a lot of team learning, Andrea found it easy to make friends.

Now that she’s a professional pharmacist, she’s finding new friends in her regular customers at Owens. “Honestly,” she says, “my favorite part is the patient interaction. It’s making those bonds.”

Andrea’s bonds with northeast Indiana got even deeper in September when she married Fort Wayne resident Tony Mundt. At least for the foreseeable future, Andrea will live and work close to where she studied pharmacy. The connection is as emotional as it is geographic. Adds Andrea, “I’m just glad to continue having ties to Manchester.”

By Melinda Lantz ’81