Posted by William Nunnelley on 2006-03-16

Samford University pharmacy Dean Joseph O. Dean, Jr., will retire at the end of the current academic year May 31. To mark the occasion, the advisory board of McWhorter School of Pharmacy has established an endowed scholarship in Dean's honor.

Contributions may be sent to the Joseph O. Dean, Jr., Endowed Scholarship Fund at Samford.

The advisory board also will honor Dr. Dean at a retirement dinner Saturday, April 8.

Dean will complete 25 years at Samford this spring, including the past 15 as pharmacy dean. The scholarship will reflect Dean's numerous contributions to the University, his profession and the future of pharmacy students.

Under Dean, the school embraced Total Quality Management principles in its teaching and administrative programs, created an international reputation among pharmacy educators, and grew to become the McWhorter School of Pharmacy as the result of a transforming gift from pharmacy alumnus Clayton McWhorter.

Dean was recipient of the first Outstanding Dean Award from the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Students of Pharmacy. Last fall, he received an honorary doctor of pharmacy degree from Meijo University in Nagoya, Japan, recognizing his efforts in international pharmacy education.

A 1962 Samford graduate, Dean was a practicing pharmacist until 1975, when he returned to Samford to fill an administrative/teaching post in the pharmacy school. After serving as vice president for university relations at Samford and vice president for development at Charleston Southern University, he returned to Samford in 1989 to help establish the Samford University Foundation.

In 1991, Dean became pharmacy dean, and led the school through the implementation of the entry-level doctor of pharmacy degree at Samford.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.