VCU news

By Anne Buckley

Joseph T. DiPiro, Pharm. D., a nationally renowned leader in pharmacy education and research, has been named dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy.

DiPiro currently serves as the executive dean of the South Carolina College of Pharmacy where he was a lead architect in creating a statewide college for the pharmacy schools and programs with three institutions: the Medical University of South Carolina, the University of South Carolina and the Greenville Health System. DiPiro successfully built the research program of the college to its Top 25 national ranking and fueled a large growth of the college’s endowment.

“Dr. DiPiro has an unparalleled record of leadership in pharmacy education,” said Sheldon Retchin, M.D., senior vice president for VCU Health Sciences and CEO of the VCU Health System. “We are excited that he will be part of VCU as he continues on a track of leadership, distinction in education and research, and innovation in pharmacy practice to develop the strategic academic and research visions for the VCU School of Pharmacy.”

DiPiro is past chair of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Council of Deans and has previously served as president of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. He is the editor of The American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, the official publication of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, and has published more than 200 journal papers, books, book chapters and editorials in academic and professional journals.

Reflecting research mainly in antibiotics, drug use in surgery and pharmacy education, DiPiro’s papers have appeared in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Pharmacotherapy, Critical Care Medicine, JAMA, Annals of Surgery, Archives of Surgery, American Journal of Surgery, Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and Surgical Infections. In 2013, DiPiro was one of six scholars in the nation elected as fellows in the Section on Pharmaceutical Sciences of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

One of DiPiro’s points of emphasis will be collaborations through the Center for Interprofessional Education to further align pharmacy programs with VCU’s team approach to health care solutions. 

DiPiro received his bachelor of science degree in pharmacy from the University of Connecticut and a doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Kentucky. He served a residency at the University of Kentucky Medical Center and a fellowship in Clinical Immunology at Johns Hopkins University. From 1981 to 2005, Dr. DiPiro was a faculty member at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy and the Medical College of Georgia.

He succeeds Victor A. Yanchick, Ph.D., who has served as dean and professor since 1996. DiPiro will start work in his position at VCU on July 1, 2014.