Abramowitz to Deliver Charles W. Hartman Memorial Lecture

Speaker is an expert on the effects of quality pharmacy care on patient outcomes, health care costs

Paul W. Abramowitz, chief executive officer of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, will give the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy's 2016 Charles W. Hartman Memorial Lecture.

Paul W. Abramowitz, chief executive officer of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, will give the School of Pharmacy’s 2016 Charles W. Hartman Memorial Lecture.

OXFORD, Miss. – Paul W. Abramowitz, chief executive officer of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, will give the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy’s 2016 Charles W. Hartman Memorial Lecture.

The lecture, which is sponsored by the pharmacy school, is set for 11 a.m. Thursday (March 31) in the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts.

“We are thrilled to host Paul Abramowitz as our 2016 Hartman lecturer,” said David D. Allen, UM pharmacy dean. “He has an extraordinary background in practice, teaching and research. His leadership focused on the advancement of pharmacy practice is unprecedented. This is an amazing opportunity for our faculty, staff and students to interact with such an outstanding leader.”

The speaker has lectured extensively and also been published on the effect quality pharmacy care can have on improving patient outcomes and reducing costs. He has also lectured and written about developing new care models, reducing adverse drug events and expanding comprehensive pharmacy care to the ambulatory setting.

Abramowitz heads the ASHP, which represents pharmacists who serve as patient care providers in acute and ambulatory settings. Some 43,000 members constitute the group, which includes pharmacists, student pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

Before he joined the group in 2011, Abramowitz worked in hospitals and health systems for 34 years. He was associate hospital director for professional services and chief pharmacy officer at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and is a professor emeritus at the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy. He also was director of pharmacy and associate professor at the Medical College of Virginia and the University of Minnesota.

He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology from Indiana University, a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Toledo and Pharm.D. from the University of Michigan.

Abramowitz serves on the boards of the National Patient Safety Foundation, the American Nurses Foundation, the Pharmacy Quality Alliance, the Council for Pharmacy Practice Accreditation and the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board. He also serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council at the University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy.

The Hartman Lecture was established at UM in 1973 to honor the late Charles W. Hartman, who was dean of the pharmacy school from 1961 until his death in 1970. Former lecturers include Lois Margaret Nora, president and CEO of the American Board of Medical Specialties; former Mississippi Gov. William F. Winter; and U.S. Sens. Thad Cochran and Trent Lott. Pharmacy alumna and author Susan A. Cantrell delivered the lecture in 2015.

For more information or assistance related to a disability, email sopdean@olemiss.edu or call 662-915-7267.