After an extensive selection process, Gloria Meredith has been chosen as the founding dean of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Binghamton University.
Chosen from over 20 candidates, Meredith’s appointment was announced by President Harvey Stenger on Jan. 5.
Meredith is currently the dean of the College of Pharmacy and a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in Chicago, where she has been a researcher since 2002. She has been an active neuroscience researcher specializing in Parkinson’s disease and addiction throughout her career and has been the recipient of funding by the National Institutes of Health since 2001.
Donald Nieman, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at BU, said Meredith’s experience set her apart from other candidates.
“She has an outstanding record in research, a deep understanding of trends in pharmacy education, and success as a founding dean of a pharmacy school,” Nieman wrote in an email. “She has been successful in starting a school, so she knows what we need to do and when we need to do it to be ready for our first class of students in August 2017.”
Stenger added that Meredith’s research experience also made her stand out.
“Gloria will bring great experience, high energy and a national and international vision for the new school,” Stenger wrote in an email. “She was a perfect fit and a unanimous choice of the search committee.”
Meredith graduated from Southern Methodist University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology and from Georgetown University School of Medicine with a doctorate in neuroscience. She has also worked at four medical universities in the United States and Europe.
English professor Susan Strehle chaired the search committee composed of BU faculty, students and alumni. She said that from this April until the school’s opening, Meredith will help design the building and hire faculty.
“She is a capable, wise, and effective leader,” Strehle wrote in an email. “She will make good decisions about what faculty to recruit to come to Binghamton, and she will inspire them to be both creative and careful.”
Meredith said she will work with staff to create a top-rate curriculum and establish the school as an acclaimed research-intensive center.
“I plan to establish a strong research focus in the new school primarily in the areas of drug development, pharmacogenomics and pharmacology,” Meredith wrote in an email. “These research areas will enable pharmacy faculty to collaborate with a wide variety of Binghamton’s existing faculty who are already carrying out top quality science.”
These plans include conducting pharmaceutical research and working with other departments such as nursing, engineering and the College of Community and Public Affairs.
When the school opens, Meredith said that she plans to be highly involved not only with faculty and students, but also with the community, coordinating internships and creating research opportunities beyond campus.
“I see the Dean as a facilitator who leads the school towards a level of excellence in all that it does,” Meredith wrote. “I also plan to become active in the community, meeting with administrators of health systems, community pharmacies, pharmaceutical industry, nursing homes, etc.”
Despite the amount of work ahead, Meredith said she is looking forward to her new home at the University.
“I want to build a school that students and faculty alike are proud of,” she wrote.