We are pleased to announce the appointment of J. Russell May, Pharm.D., FASHP as the College of Pharmacy’s Assistant Dean for Extended Campuses effective April 1, 2021.
In his new role, Dr. May will be responsible for the administration and operation of the Pharm.D. extended campuses. This position will provide leadership and oversight of all academic and student affairs including the support of student services. In this newly consolidated leadership role, the Assistant Dean will also serve as supervisor for staff embedded at the campuses. In addition, the individual will represent the College within the region to foster external collaborative relationships and strengthen our relationship with the Medical College of Georgia’s co-located, extended campuses. The Assistant Dean will frequently collaborate and interact with a variety of administrators within the College and serve on several committees.
Dr. May has been with the College since 1982, previously advancing through the Adjunct faculty track as an employee of Medical College of Georgia Hospital and Clinics. Rising to a departmental director role at MCG Hospital, he then joined the UGA College of Pharmacy full-time in the clinical faculty track in 2003. To this day, he serves as Clinical Professor for our College of Pharmacy, with a corollary faculty appointment in MCG’s Department of Medicine. His strong grounding in the challenges of operating an extended campus are enriched by his decades of experience at our extended Augusta campus, including serving as Associate Department Head of Clinical and Administrative Pharmacy since 2017.
Currently a Clinical Professor, his faculty appointment has been and will remain in the Department of Clinical and Administrative Pharmacy. Dr. May will retain his faculty responsibilities while serving as the Assistant Dean for Extended Campuses. He will relinquish his role as Associate Department Head.
Dr. May’s depth of external professional relationships across Georgia, internal familiarity with college administrative processes and governance considerations, experience mentoring clinical faculty, strong collaborations with another USG institution, and ability to shape multiple perspectives into a cohesive vision for a unit make him imminently qualified to serve as the inaugural Assistant Dean for Extended Campuses.
Thank you to Dr. Melody Sheffield and Dr. Ken Duke for providing interim leadership to the Albany and Savannah campuses (Dr. Duke since October 2018 and Sheffield since April 2019). Both will continue to provide leadership and work closely with Dr. May through April 30, 2020 as we transition into our new extended campus model.
