Gardner Invested with Inaugural College of Pharmacy Chair

By Nate Hinkel

Income from the endowment will assist Gardner and future deans in supporting new academic programs, faculty recruitment and retention, and student leadership.

“For the college to endow a dean’s chair is a fantastic achievement and a true concerted effort by many alumni and friends,” Gardner said. “This chair will make an enormous difference in the future of pharmacy education at UAMS and the pharmacy profession in Arkansas.”

Speakers at the event included longtime supporter and pharmacy advocate state Sen. Percy Malone; R. Scott Pace, Pharm.D., executive vice president of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association; Barbara G. Wells, Pharm.D., dean of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy; and UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D.

Malone, a pharmacist and longtime supporter of the college, praised Gardner’s vision and leadership.

“Dean Gardner has proven to be an excellent fit for the UAMS College of Pharmacy and has led the program through significant growth and improvement in several areas,” said Malone. “The establishment of this chair ensures that the resources and commitment to aid in continuing that trend are in place.”

Gardner joined the UAMS College of Pharmacy in 1991 and subsequently earned a doctorate in education from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She previously earned a bachelor of science in pharmacy and a doctor of pharmacy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Gardner then completed a research fellowship in Cardiovascular Pharmacology at Case Western Reserve University.

Prior to being appointed dean in 2004, she served as chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice for eight years. She has authored or co-authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications, and has published more than 40 abstracts or letters. She is a member of the editorial advisory boards of the Annals of Pharmacotherapy and the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education.

Gardner has received several honors at UAMS, including the Senior Clinical Faculty Award and the Most Outstanding Professor in Pharmacy Practice Award. She has served UAMS as chair of both the Committee on Clinical Research and the Council of Deans. Gardner is a member of the UAMS BioVentures Advisory Board, the Arkansas Center for Healthcare Improvement Advisory Board, and has served as director of the Evidence Based Prescription Drug Program.

Gardner was also recently selected to serve a six-year term as a member of the Board of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Related Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a 540,000-square-foot hospital; six institutes; and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,775 students and 748 medical residents. Its institutes are the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.