Outstanding Dean Award

2025 Outstanding Dean Award recipient

Vassilios Papadopoulos D.Pharm., Ph.D.

Vassilios Papadopoulos has served since 2016 as dean of the University of Southern California (USC) pharmacy school, which in 2022 received a $50 million endowment and was renamed the USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Papadopoulos has served as a prominent national voice on the topic of re-envisioning the future of pharmacy education and expanding the role of the pharmacist on the healthcare team. During his tenure as dean, total enrollment at the School increased by more than 30% with the introduction of innovative new undergraduate and graduate programs and an industry-leading executive sports pharmacy certificate. The school unveiled a state-of-the-art student center, opened an all-new campus pharmacy with expanded clinical consultation space, and is currently building a community pharmacy and health center in a pharmacy desert area in South Los Angeles. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the school’s students, staff, faculty and alumni played a key role in L.A.’s mass vaccination efforts.

A noted scientist and innovative leader, Papadopoulos has published over 400 papers, held numerous patents and served on national and international advisory committees. He is an elected foreign member of the National Academies of Medicine and Pharmacy in France, and fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Prior to coming to USC, Papadopoulos served as executive director and chief scientific officer at the Research Institute of McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, and previously as director of the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization at Georgetown University Medical Center, and professor and chair of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology. A School of Pharmacy graduate of the University of Athens, Papadopoulos holds a Ph.D. in health and life science from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris.

About

The APhA–ASP outstanding Dean Award was established in 2005 to recognize the deans of the schools and colleges of pharmacy nationwide who have promoted with distinction the welfare of student pharmacists through various professional activities.

Criteria

The nominee must: 1) be a Member of APhA; 2) have been an active Dean for at least one year; 3) have actively promoted student welfare; 4) made documentable contributions to achievements of the APhA-ASP Chapter; and 5) must not be a past recipient of the award.

Nomination Process

The nominator is responsible for submitting the award nomination packet online via Formsite.The award nomination packet includes:

Nomination form
A letter from the nominator describing the most important achievements of the nominee and explaining why the nominee meets the criteria for the award
Three letters of recommendation are required; a maximum of 6 letters accepted
A current CV or detailed résumé

For individuals not selected as the recipient of this award, nominators have the opportunity to have packets forwarded to the following year’s Awards Standing Committee for their review. APhA Student Development Staff will contact the nominator each year prior to the deadline to obtain approval for re-nomination and to update any nomination materials. Packets will be forwarded for a maximum of 4 consecutive years.

Submit a Nomination

Selection Process

The selection is made by the APhA–ASP Awards Standing Committee based upon careful review of complete nominations.

Nature of the Award

The recipient receives a plaque and the following: a complimentary APhA Annual Meeting registration and reimbursement for meeting-related travel expenses, according to current travel policies and up to the maximum amount budgeted by APhA.

Recipients

2024 recipient – Thomas M. Campbell - Lipscomb University
2023 recipient – William P. Petros – West Virginia University
2022 recipient – Marie A. Chisholm-Burns – The University of Tennessee Health Science Center
2021 - Keith M. Olsen, University of Nebraska Medical Center
2020 - Donald E. Letendre - The University of Iowa
2019 - Roger L. Davis - Lipscomb University
2018 - Patricia Kroboth - University of Pittsburgh
2017 - Gireesh V. Gupchup, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
2016 - Larry Calhoun, East Tennessee State University
2015 - Stephanie Gardner, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
2014 - Phillip Oppenheimer, University of the Pacific
2013 - R. Pete Vanderveen, University of Southern California
2012 - Hewitt W. “Ted” Matthews, Mercer University
2011 - Robert W. Brueggemeier, The Ohio State University
2010 - Robert L. McCarthy, University of Connecticut
2009 - Kenneth B. Roberts, University of Kentucky
2008 - Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, University of California, San Francisco
2007 - Sidney D. Nelson, University of Washington
2006 - John A. Pieper, University of New Mexico
2005 - Joseph O. Dean, Samford University

Deadline

All nominations are due annually by December 1.

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