UAMS’ Cindy Stowe, Pharm.D., Elected President of National Accrediting Body for Pharmacy Programs
| Cindy Stowe, Pharm.D., dean of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy, was recently elected president of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Board of Directors.
Stowe was appointed to the ACPE board by the American Association of College of Pharmacy. Her one-year term as president began in January and runs through January 2025.
“It is a privilege to serve as the president of the ACPE Board of Directors,” Stowe said. “I am deeply honored to serve alongside esteemed colleagues in advancing the standards and quality of pharmacy education. I am humbled by the opportunity to contribute to the shaping of our profession’s future through the accreditation process.”
ACPE is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the national agency for the accreditation of professional degree programs in pharmacy. ACPE also serves as the national agency for the accreditation of providers of continuing education.
“On behalf of ACPE, we are thrilled that Dr. Stowe will be serving our organization as president,” said Executive Director Janet Engle, Pharm.D., Ph.D. “She will provide energetic and visionary leadership as ACPE advances quality in pharmacy education and continuing professional development at the national and international levels.”
Stowe was named dean of the College of Pharmacy in July 2019. She was on the UAMS faculty for nearly 20 years, from 1995-2014. Before returning to UAMS she was dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Sullivan University in Louisville, Kentucky, where she also served as the university’s associate provost.
Stowe’s initial appointment at UAMS was as an assistant professor of pharmacy practice in the College of Pharmacy in 1995. She also held an appointment in the College of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics, Section of Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology. Stowe became a professor with tenure in the College of Pharmacy in 2009 and was the college’s associate dean from 2005 to 2014.
Stowe earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 1991 from the University of Kentucky, where she previously earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy.
Stowe has served nationally as chair of the Institutional Research and Assessment Committee of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy as well as a delegate and Secretary of Knowledge Management for the association’s Council of Deans. She also is a site team member for ACPE.
ACPE is the national agency for the accreditation of professional degree programs in pharmacy and providers of continuing pharmacy education. In collaboration with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, ACPE accredits pharmacy technician education and training programs. ACPE also offers evaluation and international accreditation of professional degree programs internationally. The mission of ACPE is to assure the quality of pharmacy education and training and to support the advancement of the profession of pharmacy. ACPE is an autonomous and independent agency whose Board of Directors is appointed through the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the American Pharmacists Association and the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.