URI pharmacy dean headed to Iowa

The University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy is losing its leader.
Donald E. Letendre, dean of pharmacy at URI since 2001, has accepted the position as dean of the University of Iowa’s College of Pharmacy. Letendre starts his new job on Sept. 25, but he said he will divide his time between his new job and the one he is leaving so he can assist URI with the transition until Nov. 2.
Letendre said last week that the University of Iowa offered an opportunity he couldn’t pass up – a chance to lead a pharmacy school that, unlike URI’s College of Pharmacy, has vast resources at its disposal.
“I’m not running away from anything,” Letendre said. “I’m running to a great opportunity. As far as I’m concerned, part of me will remain with URI.”
URI officials said an interim dean will be named when Letendre leaves in November. A search committee will then be formed to find a replacement.
In addition to being dean, Letendre has acted as executive secretary of the R.I. State Crime Laboratory Commission – which is housed in the College of Pharmacy. Before coming to URI, Letendre spent nearly 20 years on the staff of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, a national association with 30,000 members.
Letendre has been credited with reorganizing URI’s College of Pharmacy and helping to develop a new curriculum during his tenure. That, in turn, led to increased external funding for research.
In 2001, URI ranked 54th among pharmacy schools in terms of the amount of federally funded research. Now, it ranks 19th. When Letendre became dean, URI’s College of Pharmacy received about $500,000 annually in grants and private funding. This year, the public and private funding totaled about $10 million.
“We’ve have had nothing but a tremendous run of success,” Letendre said.
One of the most visible successes occurred in November, with the approval of a state bond issue that will provide $65 million for a new College of Pharmacy building at URI. The Question 4 bond referendum was endorsed by 62 percent of Rhode Island voters.
Letendre said the architectural plans for the new building are complete, and the school will soon be going to bid for the construction contracts. The groundbreaking is slated to take place in late spring or early summer next year.
The College of Pharmacy “will continue to get better whether I’m there or not,” Letendre said.
At URI, Letendre oversees a faculty of about 50. At Iowa, the faculty will number about 100. “It’s a Big Ten institution with a world-class program,” he said. “They have an outstanding reputation.”
Letendre said Iowa’s College of Pharmacy has contributed to that state’s economic development by, for example, coming up with new technologies and assisting in the development of high-tech startup companies.
“We’ve made inroads,” he said, referring to URI’s pharmacy school. But Iowa, he said, is far ahead in linking the school and economic development.
Letendre said he agreed to assist URI until Nov. 2 to ensure that ongoing projects such as the proposed College of Pharmacy building “are handed off smoothly or completed.”
“I care very deeply about URI,” he said. •