M. Lynn Crismon, James T. Doluisio Regents Chair and Behrens Centennial Professor, has announced his plans to step down as dean of The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy and return to the faculty. His transition will come after two accomplished terms and 13 years of distinguished leadership in the college. Dean Crismon will continue in his role until August 31, 2020. During that time the college and the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost will assemble an advisory search committee to find a suitable successor.
“For over a decade as dean, Lynn Crismon provided extraordinary leadership to the College of Pharmacy at The University of Texas,” says Gregory L. Fenves, president of The University of Texas at Austin. “He elevated every aspect of the college by recruiting world-class faculty members and creating a culture that deeply supported both exemplary teaching and groundbreaking faculty- and graduate student-led research. He will continue to make vital contributions as a faculty member and his expertise will help guide the College of Pharmacy forward for many years to come.”
Since becoming dean in 2007, the UT Austin College of Pharmacy has seen the creation of an infrastructure to support graduate education and research and the expansion of wet lab research space. Accomplishments include major advances in grant funding, research, Pharm.D. education, collaboration, outreach, and academic achievement. The college maintains a 94.4% four-year graduation rate, 97% pass rate for the National Pharmacy Licensure Exam (NAPLEX), and 99% pass rate on the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam (MPJE). The college currently ranks as the third best pharmacy school in the country according to U.S. News & World Report.
From 2006 to 2018, the UT Austin College of Pharmacy saw total one-year competitive grant awards more than double and one-year research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) nearly triple. The number of graduate student endowed fellowships has doubled, and the dean has overseen the creation of 19 new Doctor of Pharmacy scholarship endowments, which this year awarded UT student pharmacists with more than $440,000 in college based scholarship funds to support their academic efforts.
“It has been my honor and privilege to serve as dean of the UT College of Pharmacy and work with outstanding faculty, students, and staff,” says Dean Crismon. “I thank everyone who has collaborated with me to advance the mission of the college. I look forward to returning to the faculty where I hope to renew my focus on initiatives to improve the mental health care for Texas citizens.”
Dean Crismon has overseen numerous new initiatives and positions across the college and in collaboration with other schools and colleges at The University of Texas at Austin, including the UT Austin Center for Health Interprofessional Practice and Education, the Lester Entrepreneurial Scholars Program, the Targeted Therapeutic Drug Discovery & Development Program, the Texas Center for Health Outcomes Research and Education, UT Advance, TherapeUTex, and an interinstitutional Ph.D. program in translational science, shared among UT Health San Antonio, UT Austin, UT San Antonio, and the UT School of Public Health.
Dean Crismon received his bachelor of science in pharmacy from the University of Oklahoma and his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from a joint program of The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He completed residencies in pharmacy practice at the U.S. Public Health Service Gallup Indian Medical Center and in psychiatric pharmacy at The University of Texas and San Antonio State Hospital. Prior to becoming dean, Dr. Crismon developed a nationally recognized training program in psychiatric pharmacotherapy and mental health outcomes research. In particular, his work has focused on the development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based best practices to improve the pharmacotherapy outcomes of adults and children with severe mental disorders.
Download the news release regarding the dean’s announcement.