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The dean of the has announced plans to step down.

William H. Riffee, Ph.D., who has served as dean since 1996, will vacate his position at the end of the 2012-2013 academic year.

“When I first assumed leadership of the college, my goal was for the faculty to have ownership, working together and enjoying good company to build a top program,� Riffee said. “Looking back now, I have the satisfaction of knowing that my vision of ‘There’s no limit to what this college can accomplish� was on the mark.�

The sixth dean in the college’s nearly 90-year history, Riffee came to UF after 21 years on the faculty of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Texas at Austin. His first priority at UF was to strengthen its Pharm.D. curriculum by implementing problem-based learning, based on his belief that what student pharmacists learn through their studies is only the beginning of their professional practice. In addition to preparing students, he strongly supported faculty development that allowed the college’s educators to expand their teaching methods beyond traditional approaches.

A pioneer in distance learning, Riffee implemented tele-education programs at multiple campuses at UT, then brought similar technologies to UF. That opened UF’s professional and graduate programs to students across the U.S. and the world. Such globalized programs include the Working Professional Pharm.D. program � the largest in the nation � and expanded master’s programs in forensic science, health policy, pharmaceutical chemistry, clinical toxicology, medication therapy management and clinical pharmacy. From 2001 to 2006, while dean, Riffee also served as UF associate provost for distance, continuing and executive education.

In 2002, Riffee expanded the reach of the College of Pharmacy by establishing three new campuses in Jacksonville, Orlando and St. Petersburg, to serve students in their home communities. In addition to enhancing educational opportunities for students, he also sought to improve the college’s physical facilities. During his tenure, a five-story pharmacy academic wing, which includes a clinical skills lab, was built in collaboration with the colleges of and in the shared HPNP Building. A new building also was erected on the St. Petersburg College campus and renovations were made at the Shands Jacksonville facility for Pharm.D. students in each of those cities, respectively. Renovations also were made to the seven-story pharmacy research wing of the UF Stetson Medical Sciences Building to accommodate graduate research activities under way at the BOBÌåÓý Science Center.

UF’s pharmacy research program has been strengthened during Riffee’s tenure as dean. The college’s five research departments � medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutical outcomes and policy, pharmaceutics, pharmacodynamics and pharmacotherapy and translational research � have been highly successful in gaining extramural support. Research revenues have grown from $4.9 million in 1997 to $9 million today.

In fall 2010, Riffee joined other UF leaders in breaking ground for the , which benefited from $3.5 million in College of Pharmacy resources. The campus will house the new Research Center for Pharmacometrics and serve as a home campus for UF Pharm.D. students in Orlando.

“Dr. Riffee’s service to the UF community in advancing pharmacy education and research is invaluable,� said David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president for health affairs and president of the UF&Shands Health System. “He has made incomparable investments in the lives of so many students � even those who have yet to enter the halls of UF � and contributed greatly toward the health and well-being of patients across our nation and, indeed, the world.�

Riffee has served in leadership positions with various national pharmacy associations. This year, he was chosen by the American Pharmacists Association as speaker-elect to its House of Delegates, which is made up of more than 450 elected members from 50 state associations.

He is also a member of the American Society of Health System Pharmacists, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the Florida Pharmaceutical Association, the Florida Society of Health-System Pharmacists, the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and the Society for Neuroscience.

Riffee hailed his colleagues and students as partners who helped him as he led the college into the future.

“I could have never asked for a better group of faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the college,� Riffee said. “You all have done great things and have made me very proud to be associated with you.�