Dr Catherine Duggan receives the 2025 RPS Charter Award
Published: 7 April 2026
This was published when the organisation was the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) is delighted to announce that Dr Catherine Duggan has been selected as the recipient of the 2025 RPS Charter Award, one of the highest honours the Society bestows. It will be presented at the RPS AGM which starts at 6.30pm this evening (07 April).
The RPS Charter Award recognises individuals who have made an exceptional and sustained contribution to pharmacy. Catherine, who has served as Chief Executive Officer of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) since 2018, is being honoured for her outstanding leadership, global impact and unwavering commitment to advancing the pharmacy profession worldwide.
As CEO of FIP since 2018, Catherine Duggan has provided visionary leadership across a global network of 160 member organisations and allied institutions, representing 5.5 million pharmacy professionals worldwide. She has strengthened partnerships with key bodies including the World Health Organization and UNESCO and been a strong advocate for improving access to safe, effective and high quality pharmaceutical care.
She led FIP through the COVID 19 pandemic, rapidly expanding digital engagement to support wider global participation and revenue generation to ensure increases in membership fees could be kept to a minimum. She has also overseen major organisational reform, modernising governance and establishing clearer strategic direction for the federation.
Her global impact includes advancing pharmacists’ roles in vaccination, self-care and patient facing services. Since 2020, the number of countries enabling pharmacy-based vaccination has grown from 34 to 56 under her leadership, improving access to immunisation worldwide. She also ensured the FIP Development Goals were launched in September 2020 and launched FIPWiSE to support women in pharmaceutical sciences and education.
Before joining FIP, Catherine Duggan held several senior roles at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, including Director of Professional Development and Support and interim Country Director for England. She led the introduction of the RPS Faculty (2013) and RPS Foundation Programme (2014), significantly strengthening professional development, advancement and recognition across the profession.
Her earlier contributions include serving as Chair of UKCPA and a member of the RPSGB Council and a portfolio of roles across academia, hospital, primary care and community sectors.
RPS CEO Paul Bennett said:
“DrCatherine Duggan has made an extraordinary contribution to pharmacy over more than two decades. Her visionary leadership, dedication to advancing global practice and ability to bring people and professions together have had an enduring impact both in the UK and internationally. She is an inspiring ambassador for our profession and is truly deserving of the RPS Charter Award.”
Dr Catherine Duggan said:
“I am truly honoured and humbled to receive this award and regard this as a huge recognition of work I have always been proud and privileged to do for my profession. I am delighted to join the many others who have received this award for exceptional and sustained contribution to pharmacy. Receiving the RPS Charter Award during this year of transition for the RPS to a royal college represents such a culmination of shared endeavour and vision of so many of us in the recent decades. Thank you so much.”
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