State of the School Address

Good morning. I am pleased to deliver today as dean my first state of the school address. I speak to you at this retreat of faculty and select students, alumni, graduate students and staff, rather than an open campus venue because I want you to be the first to hear this message, and I want you to be able to ask questions and comment. I will share the written text of my speech with other members of the School family and with the campus as a whole.

During my time slot on the agenda, I will recall the past while reminding us of the environment in which that past was set. I will also share the interim progress of the School, point out the challenges and opportunities we must address, and frame how I hope this retreat will help us move to the next level.

Before I begin, I want to be sure that our understanding of the School is mutual. Clearly, we all know our own areas of research, teaching, and patient care. Other areas we can describe to a greater or lesser degree. As chair of the department of clinical pharmacy, and frankly as someone who has been in this School, beginning as a student, for more than thirty-five years, I thought I had a handle on the School of Pharmacy. I was amazed when I became dean to learn the real extent and richness of our work and the diversity of our citizens-our paid faculty, without salary faculty, staff, academic appointees, PharmD professional students, PhD graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, residents, visiting professors, PharmD and PhD alumni, and members of our Board of Overseers. During our time together here, I encourage you to seek out and introduce yourselves to those among us who you do not know. Tell people about your work, and how you accomplish it. I encourage you to break out of the structure that helps us function, but can hinder our communication.

For those of you who are new, I refer to an administrative framework composed of a dean's office and three departments; professional and graduate degree and postdoctoral programs, a broad research enterprise that runs the gamut from chemistry to behavior science, the Molecular Design Institute and special units, such as the California Poison Control System, the Cochrane Collaboration, the drug studies unit, and the Center for Consumer Self Care. All of us function in multiple spheres within these structures as well as on the campus.

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