Giving had always been a part of their aspirations, and now Jeff and Lynnette Yuen are thrilled that their successful public health careers have enabled them the opportunity to realize this lifelong goal. The couple recently gave a generous $50,000 to endow a scholarship in the UCI School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Inspiration for the gift came from their families. There was one thing Jeff’s father, a surgeon in Sacramento, drilled into his children: “He said, ‘No matter what it takes, you have to work hard enough to make sure that your children get their education; you pay for it so that they can concentrate on their studies,” explains Jeff, who is president/CEO and founder of Jeff Yuen & Associates, Inc., a well-known pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device regulatory compliance consulting firm.
“I went away to school – first to UCI and then UCLA for graduate school. And my father paid for it all,” says Jeff, who graduated in 1984 from UCI with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences and, in 1987, with a Master’s in Public Health from UCLA.
Meanwhile, Lynnette’s story was very different. “Her family wasn’t as fortunate to be able to pay for her education. She worked hard all through high school and college and took out student loans to pay for tuition, room and board,” says Jeff.
Jeff and Lynnette have known each other since middle school; both families lived no more than two or three blocks from each other. The two stayed in touch after high school, dated during their college years and eventually married in 1988. “Now we have three amazing adult children — Jeremy, Justin and Jennifer — and we’ll be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary this year!” says Jeff.
Yet he still remembers as newlyweds having to navigate his wife’s student loans. “It was pretty much the first agenda: let’s stop paying the interest and get these paid off!”
Thankfully, they were both fortunate to have successful careers. Lynnette graduated from California State University, Sacramento and completed her one-year internship at California State University, San Francisco. She worked graveyard shift as a clinical lab scientist at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Orange, CA. Jeff started his career as a peace officer / investigator with the State of California, DHS, Food and Drug Branch, before becoming a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service assigned to work with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In 1998, Jeff and Lynnette took a leap and founded their own regulatory compliance consultancy firm serving domestic and international pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech companies. The firm has become well established in their industry. The company’s mission is to assist sponsor applicants with their new drug or biologics approvals and assist clients with improving their quality systems subsequent to adverse or poor regulatory inspections.
Jeff says the industry is rewarding because he’s able to collaborate with so many cutting-edge companies trying to solve major unmet medical needs and public health issues. “And by working in the regulatory space, our company is really impacting both worldwide and domestic patients. We are truly impacting community health, which is what I love the most.”
But the work is also demanding. “It’s typical for me to travel three out of four weeks each month,” explains Jeff. “In our business we are sort of always ‘on call’ – whenever you hear about the FDA issuing further regulatory actions such as warning letters; companies initiating voluntary recalls etc., we are often called to help companies deal with those situations.”
After 25 years of a breakneck pace building the business and raising and supporting all three of their children’s education at both the undergraduate and doctorate levels in physical therapy, veterinary medicine and clinical psychology, the couple decided that it was time to establish new goals and priorities.
“The goal for us was always to be in a position someday for philanthropy – so now the timing is really right,” says Jeff, who plans to reduce travel and perhaps tackle duties like creating internship and mentorship opportunities at the company and guest lecturing at UCI. He is already a member of the UCI School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Dean’s Leadership Council, which advises the dean on programs and strategies related to the school such as diversity, public impact and professional development.
But establishing a needs-based scholarship was important. This year the couple endowed the Jeff and Lynnette Yuen School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Scholarship, which provides $2,250 a year to a student in the pursuit of the doctorate in pharmacy (PharmD) degree.
“Having lived in Orange County before moving to Wilmington, North Carolina, we remain closely tied to UCI, which was where my college education started. It means a lot to us since two out of three of our children chose UCI. We’re really Anteaters for the most part – Zot Zot Zot!” explains Jeff.
The Yuens see big possibilities. “We think in terms of the ripple effect. Or at least that’s our hope. We want to give a student what my father was able to give me and what we gave our children: the ability to focus on studies and do the best they can do. And then, maybe others in that student’s position will see it is possible —sometimes there is somebody out there who will help you. And, of course, we would be thrilled if it all came full circle and the scholarship recipient someday helped other students in the position they were once in.”
For now, Jeff says simply assisting a student is enough. “Knowing that we contributed even just a little bit towards helping someone pursue their dreams and fulfill their aspirations will be the most awesome blessing and extremely rewarding to us.”
