NACDS Foundation Pharmacy Deans Forum

Oluwaranti Akiyode, PharmD

Dean and Professor, Howard University College of Pharmacy

Dr. Oluwaranti "Ranti" Akiyode currently serves as the Dean and Professor of Pharmacy Practice at the Howard University College of Pharmacy, leveraging over 22 years of academic experience focusing on clinical pharmacy practice. As the founding pharmacist at the Howard University Hospital Diabetes Treatment Center from 2007-2017, Dr. Akiyode was pivotal in establishing and delivering comprehensive medication therapy and diabetes management services. She is passionate about professional development and has actively mentored and initiated a successful junior faculty mentoring program at the College. Her leadership is marked by a dedication to professionalism and an unwavering devotion to excellence in students, staff, and faculty.

Michelle A. Clark, M.S., Ph.D.

Dean and Professor, Nova Southeastern University, Barry and Judy Silverman College of Pharmacy

In her twenty-two plus years in the Silverman College of Pharmacy, Dr. Clark has served as Interim Dean, Executive Associate Dean, Associate Dean, and Pharmaceutical Sciences Department Chair. She is a visionary leader that is passionate about creating innovative educational programs to include establishing Pharmaceutical Science degrees and certificate programs in her college. Dr. Clark increased the College’s scholarship corpus by over 400% and annually awards over $850,000 in scholarships/tuition discounts. Under her leadership, the College exceeded fundraising/research goals for student scholarships, cancer research, and federal grants.

Berit Gundersen, PharmD

Dean, University of the Pacific, Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy

Dean Gundersen has served the University as a faculty member, program director, vice provost and now her alma mater’s School’s dean (since May 2023). Dean Gundersen earned her Doctor of Pharmacy from University of the Pacific in 1984. She joined Pacific as an assistant clinical professor in 1986 and earned full professorship in 2005. During her tenure as faculty, she was instrumental in spearheading initiatives that developed student skills, demonstrating the school’s commitment to patient care. She held various roles in the provost’s office from 2007 to 2018, including vice provost. During this time, Dean Gundersen played a key role in the founding of the School of Health Sciences.

George E. MacKinnon III , PhD, DMSc (Hon), MS, RPh, FASHP, FNAP

Founding Dean and Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy

Dr. MacKinnon began responsibilities as Founding Dean of the School of Pharmacy at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) in 2015. He received his BS (Pharmacy) and MS (Hospital Pharmacy) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy, completing two-years of post-graduate pharmacy residency training at University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. He earned his PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Loyola University Chicago. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (FASHP) and Distinguished Scholar Fellow of the National Academies of Practice (NAP).

Kanneboyina Nagaraju, DVM, Ph.D.

Dean and Pharmaceutical Scientist, Binghamton University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Professor Kanneboyina Nagaraju joined as the founding chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and was one of the initial leadership members to start a new pharmacy school in 2016. His over 28 years of academic and research tenure spans the prestigious National Institutes of Health, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC. He and his colleagues are credited with discovering and developing AGAMREE (Vamorolone), a first-in-class dissociated glucocorticoid with a significantly reduced side effect profile. The Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency have recently approved AGAMREE. He is an academic entrepreneur who co-founded two successful biotechnology companies, ReveraGen BioPharma Inc and Agada Biosciences and is engaged in discovering and developing therapies for neuromuscular diseases.