Three Women Who Have Been Appointed Deans of Pharmacy Schools

Rae Matsumoto has been appointed dean of the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy at the University of Hawai’i Hilo, effective November 16. Since 2022, she has been a professor of physiology and pharmacology at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Earlier, she was dean of the College of Pharmacy at Touro University California in Vallejo.

Dr. Matsumoto received her bachelor’s degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Kerry LaPlante, an internationally recognized expert in antimicrobial resistance and infectious diseases, was named dean of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Rhode Island, effective January 2. Dr. LaPlante, who currently serves as department chair and professor of pharmacy at the university will be the first woman dean of the pharmacy college. She joined the faculty at the university in 2004.

Dr. Laplante is a graduate of Canisius University in Buffalo, New York, where she majored in biology. She earned her pharmacy doctorate at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Sarah Michel has been named dean of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. Since June, she has served as interim dean and was previously chair of the department of pharmaceutical sciences and associate dean for graduate programs. Her research investigates the roles that metals play in the regulation of chronic inflammation, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr. Michel is a graduate of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where she majored in chemistry. She holds a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.