Maddox to mentor next generation of pharmacy education leaders

      Dr. Ronald Maddox has been invited to be a Dean Facilitator for the 2007-2008 Academic Leadership Fellows Program (ALFP) sponsored by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). Maddox is the founding dean of the Campbell University School of Pharmacy.

      Established in the 2004-2005 academic year, the goal of the ALFP is to address and solve the many challenges facing pharmacy education, including understanding the complex relationship between the health care system and society, building inter-disciplinary professional teams to serve the community, addressing and impacting legislative challenges and assuring excellence in the teaching and clinical application of core competences in primary health care services.

     “The ALFP program is designed to develop the nation’s most promising pharmacy faculty for roles as future leaders in academic pharmacy and higher education,” said Arlene Flynn, vice president for Professional Affairs for the AACP.

     To date 83 faculty from 51 different institutions have completed the program and 29 Fellows and five deans of pharmacy are expected to participate in the 2007-08 program, Flynn added. Dr. Ted Matthews, dean of the Mercer University Southern School of Pharmacy and a participant in the 2006-07 program strongly recommended it as an investment in the future of pharmacy education.

     “The ALFP is an excellent method of developing new leaders in pharmacy education rather than just waiting for them to evolve,” said Dean Maddox. “Whether they aspire to be academic deans or administrative leaders, this program enhances the scholars’ advancement through the academic ranks and molds them into leaders who will positively impact the pharmacy profession.”

      Fellows must participate in four program meetings over the course of a year in addition to working with Dean Facilitators on assigned projects. The Fellows convene for an initial meeting in August for an overview of the program which will cover personal and interpersonal competencies for leadership, practical management responsibilities, administrative competencies of an academic pharmacy administrator and leadership in the arena of advocacy and the profession.

     Maddox, who was named founding dean of the Campbell University School of Pharmacy in 1985, served as associate dean of the Mercer University School of Pharmacy in Atlanta, Ga. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from Auburn University and a doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Tennessee. He also served as a clinical pharmacist (cardiology) at the Georgia Baptist Medical Center. Maddox was recently appointed to the North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NC IOM) by Governor Mike Easley. The NC IOM provides nonpartisan information on complex health issues facing the state and strives to develop workable solutions to these problems.