When Clarence Ueda, Pharm.D., Ph.D., steps down as dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy next summer, it will end one of the longest running tenures of any UNMC dean.
Dr. Ueda will wrap up his deanship on July 31, capping 20 years in the leadership role. He will return to the classroom full-time as a tenured professor in the pharmaceutical sciences department.
“We’ve made significant strides over the years,” Dr. Ueda said. “I’ve tried to raise the standards and expectations in the professional and graduate programs, as well as the scholarship and research side. It’s been exciting.”
UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., said he’s enjoyed working with Dr. Ueda over the past eight years as chancellor and prior to that as dean of the College of Medicine for five years. “Over his tenure as dean, the College of Pharmacy has trained the majority of current practitioners in the state of Nebraska, has increased the application rate to the college, and his faculty have become strong members of the UNMC research force,” Dr. Maurer said. “Dean Ueda leaves the College of Pharmacy leadership with the college in a strong position.”
Born in Kansas City, Mo., Dr. Ueda grew up in Berkeley, Calif, where he attended the University of California, Berkeley, and then the University of California, San Francisco, where he earned both his Pharm.D., and Ph.D. degrees.
Dr. Ueda joined the College of Pharmacy, then located in Lincoln, in March 1974 as an assistant professor. He went on to become acting chairman of the department of pharmaceutics, associate professor, chairman and professor. He served as interim dean of the College of Pharmacy from May 1986 to February 1987, when he was named dean.
“Dean Ueda led the rebuilding of a college that, at the time he assumed the deanship, had only recently avoided closure, and had had significant faculty turnover,” said Jeff Baldwin, Pharm.D. “Now the college has a very strong research program and is among the top pharmacy colleges in the country in terms of student success on national pharmacy licensure examinations.”
The Class of 2005 ranked 11th on their its national licensure examination out of 86 schools of pharmacy; the Class of 2004 ranked 12th of 85 schools and the Class of 2003 ranked 15th of 83 schools. The increasing success rate on the national board examination is likely attributable to the reformed professional curriculum that was initiated with the Class of 2002, but fully implemented with the Class of 2004. The Class of 2002 ranked 21st out of 81 schools.
In the 2006 U.S.News & World Report’s academic rankings, the UNMC College of Pharmacy ranked 27th out of more than 90 pharmacy schools based on the academic quality of its doctoral program. As of the end of September, the college also boasts $10.2 million in research grants and contracts.
Trained in biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics, Dr. Ueda knew, upon graduation, that he wanted to be part of a research-intensive university. A volunteer youth football coach at the time, he was drawn to Nebraska, in part, because of Nebraska’s football reputation, but even more so because of the opportunities he saw in a newly created biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics post.
The sports aficionado continues to “coach” students. Since 1994, he’s served as a mentor to seventh- and eighth-grade students at Sacred Heart School, introducing them to UNMC and the laboratory environment and providing each with an “official” College of Pharmacy laboratory coat. “I love coaching and kids,” said Dr. Ueda, who was honored by Sacred Heart officials this summer. “I tell the kids to study hard and do what they can to take advantage of opportunities to better themselves,” he said. “My goal is to get them thinking early about college and post-graduate school education such as professional school.”
Mary Jo Ramirez, student affairs coordinator for the College of Pharmacy, has worked with Dr. Ueda the past 10 years. “His warm welcome to the incoming students at orientation and sincere demeanor has always impressed me,” she said. “He genuinely wants each student to succeed and is willing to help the students in any way he can.”
Dr. Ueda’s two children – including a daughter who graduated from UNMC’s College of Pharmacy – live in California, where he may one day return. Until then, he’ll be teaching pharmacy students, mentoring underprivileged students, and following the Detroit Tigers baseball team. He’s also interested in working with College of Pharmacy alumni, as well as recruiting students.
“It’s very unusual today to have a dean go as long as 20 years, but it’s knowing when to hide, where to hide, and when to duck,” piqued Dr. Ueda, who has served as dean under four UNMC chancellors.
UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through its commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers in cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics, biomedical technology, ophthalmology and arthritis. UNMC’s research funding from external sources is now nearly $80 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,400 highly skilled jobs in the state. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes more than 460 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties. They practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center, UNMC’s teaching hospital. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.