OXFORD, Miss. – David D. Allen, dean of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, has been selected by his peers as chair-elect of the Council of Deans for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.
“I’ve been involved with AACP for years, and being elected to chair the Council of Deans is a tremendous honor for me,” Allen said. “I am very excited about my new role and looking forward to working with the council to positively impact pharmacy education.”
Allen, the chair-elect designee, will assume full duties of the chair-elect position at the AACP annual meeting in July.
“Dean Allen brings a wealth of experience to the AACP leadership table, including an excellent blend of new and established school insights and administrative talent,” said Lucinda L. Maine, executive vice president and CEO of AACP.
The national organization that represents pharmacy education, AACP is composed of all accredited pharmacy schools and colleges in the United States.
The Council of Deans is responsible for a wide variety of tasks. The mission of the council is “to identify and address major issues related to the conduct of professional, post-professional and graduate education, research and service in pharmacy and the pharmaceutical sciences.”
Some specific objectives of the council include advocating for the betterment of pharmacy education, informing policy makers on health care and facilitating communication among pharmacy administrators across schools of pharmacy.
Allen has been an active member of AACP since 1996. He has chaired AACP’s Advocacy Committee, Costs of Experiential Education Task Force, Biological Sciences Section and Student Services Special Interest Group.
He serves on AACP’s Joint Task Force on Succeeding in an Era of Declining Federal Support and served on the Task Force on Health Care Reform’s Impact on Pharmacy Education, as well as numerous AACP committees (e.g., Nominations, Professional Affairs, Robert K. Chalmers Award Selection, PCAT Advisory, etc.).
Besides serving as UM pharmacy dean, Allen is a professor of pharmacology and executive director of the university’s Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He earned his B.S. in pharmacy and Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Kentucky.