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New Pharmacy dean namedThe former director of accreditation services for the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists (ASHP) has been appointed the new dean of the University of Rhode Island's College of Pharmacy. The announcement was made by M. Beverly Swan, provost and vice president for academic affairs. Donald E. Letendre, who served in the accreditation post for the national organization since 1982, succeeds Louis Luzzi, who retired as dean last spring after more than 20 years running the college. Luzzi has returned to the faculty as the first to hold the Ernest Mario Distinguished Chair in Pharmaceutics. Letendre, who began his duties Aug. 1, will also serve as a professor of applied pharmaceutical sciences. As dean, he will be responsible for the leadership, supervision, advocacy and support of the College, which has about 40 faculty members, about 570 undergraduate and 70 graduate students. As director of accreditation services for ASHP, which is based in Bethesda, Md., Letendre managed a profession-wide accreditation service program for more than 600 postgraduate pharmacy residencies and about 90 pharmacy technician training programs nationwide. At ASHP, Letendre supervised development and maintenance of 24 pharmacy residency and technician accreditation standards and conducted a national Resident Matching Program, which involved more than 1,200 students last year. Prior to his position at ASHP, Letendre served concurrently as assistant professor at the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy, and assistant director of the Dept. of Pharmacy and director of the Investigational Drug Unit at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Letendre holds a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and a doctor of pharmacy from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. He then completed three years of residency training at the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Medical Center, having served the last year as chief resident. He has served as a liaison to groups such as the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacists, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and the National Institutes of Health. He has an extensive research and publication record as well as considerable experience at the administrative level. Letendre is a member of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the American Pharmaceutical Association and the American Society of Healthy-System Pharmacists. He has received several awards including the Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences and the Paul F. Parker Lecture Award from the University of Kentucky. By Dave Lavallee |
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