AUBURN UNIVERSITY
DAVID J. RIESE, II, PhD
GILLILAND & FRANKLIN PROFESSOR
ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR
RESEARCH & GRADUATE PROGRAMS
HARRISON SCHOOL
OF PHARMACY
2016 April 10
Ryan Crawford
Parker Executive Search
Five Concourse Parkway, Suite 2900
Atlanta, GA 30328
Tel: 770-307-7031
Email: rcrawford@parkersearch.com
Dear Mr. Crawford
I am delighted and honored to have the opportunity to apply for the position of Dean of the College of Pharmacy at the University of
South Carolina. This letter and accompanying documents describe my employment experience and how this experience relates to the
desired attributes of this position.
I. Qualifications for the Position at the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy
A. Earned PhD in a related discipline
Raised in rural central Indiana, I earned an AB Summa Cum Laude in Biology from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
While at Wabash, I was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa scholastic honorary fraternity and was a varsity letterman on the swimming
team. Following an internship in the Biology Division at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, I pursued graduate studies in the
Department of Genetics (fka Department of Human Genetics) at Yale University. Under the direction of dissertation advisor
Daniel DiMaio, my work yielded novel insights into the mechanisms by which papillomaviruses cause cervical cancer in humans
and benign skin tumors in cows. This work was supported in part by a doctoral fellowship in genetics that I was awarded by the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute. I earned an MPhil in 1989 and a PhD in 1993.
B. Record of teaching, research, and scholarship worthy of being granted tenure
After earning my doctorate, I pursued postdoctoral training in the Department of Pathology at Yale University, under the tutelage
of David Stern. These studies, which were supported in part by a postdoctoral fellowship that I was awarded by the U.S. Army
Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC), were focused on hormonal regulation of tumor cell proliferation, an
area that is still a focus of the work in my laboratory. In 1997, I was appointed to a tenure-track faculty position in the Purdue
University College of Pharmacy (PUCOP) and the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research (PCCR). While at Purdue, I
was a founding member of the interdisciplinary Molecular Signaling and Cancer Biology graduate program and the Breast Cancer
Research Program and held a variety of informal and formal leadership positions. I was granted tenure in 2003. In 2010, I was
named the inaugural Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs (ADRGP) for the Auburn University Harrison School
of Pharmacy (AUHSOP) and the inaugural George Fulton Gilliland and Olga Hooser Gilliland Franklin Professor.
My teaching background includes service as the course director for multiple required courses in the P1 year of the PUCOP
PharmD program and teaching in required courses in the P2 year of the PUCOP PharmD program. I have also served as the
course director and instructor for multiple courses in the PUCOP and AUHSOP MS/PhD programs. I have been an accomplished
instructor, as evidenced by a Heine Outstanding Teaching award (the highest award for teaching) from the PUCOP.
My research and scholarly activity includes mentorship of five doctoral and three masters degree students. I have published more
than 50 peer-reviewed papers that have garnered almost 4000 citations. I have been the PI of three R-series grants from the
National Cancer Institute of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, as well as research grants from the USAMRMC Breast Cancer
Research (BCRP) program, the USAMRMC Prostate Cancer Research Program, several private philanthropies, and numerous
Purdue University and Auburn University internal awards. I have also served as a co-PI for several Federal grants, including an
NCI P30 center grant (in support of the PCCR), a USAMRMC BCRP training grant, and a Department of Education GAANN
training grant.
3211G Walker Building
Auburn, AL 36849-5501
Telephone: 334-844-8358
Fax: 334-844-8353
w w w . a u b u r n . e d u
Email: driese@auburn.edu
C. Appreciation of the educational, research, scholarly, and clinical opportunities in the College
My current responsibilities at the AUHSOP include supporting and fostering extramurally-funded activities in the School and
Auburn University. I have developed grant and contract administrative processes and manage a grants and contracts
administration team. I have led the creation of programs to assist faculty in proposal development, acquisition of infrastructure,
and the performance of the proof-of-principle studies required to successfully compete for extramural funding. These efforts
support BOTH scholarly activities and clinical (outreach) activities.
My current responsibilities at the AUHSOP also include management and oversight of graduate education programs in the
School. I have led a comprehensive restructuring of the MS and PhD programs, the creation of a PharmD-PhD program, a
graduate certificate program in Medicinal Chemistry, a Pharmaceutical Engineering graduate program, and a PharmD-MPH
program. These responsibilities require an appreciation of the AUHSOP PharmD program as well as its MS and PhD programs.
This work has leveraged training that I gained through completion of the Academic Leadership Fellows Program of the American
Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. Measures of extramural funding and graduate education productivity achieved by
AUHSOP faculty under my leadership can be found in the attached PowerPoint slides.
D. Skill in recruiting, retaining, and supporting outstanding faculty
I have chaired multiple successful faculty and staff search committees on behalf of the AUHSOP. I participate in the searches for
all tenure-track faculty positions and coordinate research infrastructure acquisition in support of these searches. I have led the
AUHSOP partnership with GCOE, COSAM, CVM, College of Liberal Arts, College of Human Sciences, OVPRED, and the
Auburn University (AU) Office of the Provost to create faculty cluster hire programs around three multi-unit, multidisciplinary
research and education initiatives: (1) Pharmaceutical Engineering; (2) Omics and Informatics; (3) Health Disparities. These
cluster hire initiatives have created at least five new tenure-track, research-intensive faculty positions (and startup packages) for
the AUHSOP.
I have also been engaged in establishing internal and external partnerships to support the scholarly activity of AUHSOP Faculty.
I have led efforts to partner with the AU Samuel Ginn College of Engineering (GCOE), College of Sciences and Mathematics
(COSAM), College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM), Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development
(OVPRED) and the Auburn University Research Initiative in Cancer (AURIC) to acquire millions of dollars of research
infrastructure for the entire Auburn University campus. These acquisitions include a state-of-the-art supercomputer, transmission
electronic microscope, a single photon laser scanning confocal microscope, a two-photon laser scanning confocal microscope, a
multi-spectral optoacoustic tomograph, a liquid chromatography/triple quadrupole mass spectrometry system, and a small animal
triaxial bioluminescence, fluorescence, and x-ray imaging system. I have also led efforts to establish external partnerships with
Merck, Kowa Pharmaceuticals of America, Nature’s Sunshine Products, Pharmavite, War Eagle Laboratories, and other firms to
provide financial support for AUHSOP research and scholarships for PharmD students. I am currently leading efforts to establish
partnerships with the U.S. Department of Defense to obtain access to active duty and dependent health care records for the
purpose of outcomes research studies.
I have led the development of AUHSOP programs to aid in the recognition and retention of outstanding faculty members. These
include an awards program that recognizes extramural funding in support of research OR outreach (clinical) activities and
incentive programs that feature the conversion of extramural faculty salary support into non-recurring salary supplements and the
distribution of indirect cost recovery to faculty members’ discretionary spending accounts. These programs have been highly
effective, as extramural funding awarded to AUHSOP has more than tripled during my tenure and no tenure-track faculty have
left AUHSOP during my tenure (aside from retirements).
E. Experience in resource and budgetary management
My office operates a large research core facility that includes two transmission electron microscopes, a scanning electron
microscope, a two-photon confocal microscope, an electron surface microprobe, and ancillary equipment. Moreover, my office is
responsible for preparing all budgets for extramural grant and contract proposals and conducting negotiations with internal and
external partners. I possess AUHSOP signatory authority for all extramural grant and contract proposals. Finally, my office is
responsible for budgetary oversight of extramurally-funded programs. Thus, I have first-hand financial knowledge of and
responsibility for major portions of AUHSOP operations.
As the AUHSOP ADRGP, I interact with my counterparts throughout AU and with the AU Provost’s Office, Graduate School,
and OVPRED for the purposes of developing and coordinating activities designed to support and foster graduate education and
extramurally-funded research and outreach (clinical) activities. AU is implementing a modified Responsibility-Centered
Management (RCM) budgetary model beginning with FY17 (in shadow form) and FY18 (in earnest). I chair a University-wide
committee charged with proposing tactics to grow the extramurally-funded AU research enterprise in the face of the challenges
and opportunities of this new budgeting paradigm. My committee is considering tactics that address challenges and opportunities
in faculty hiring and retention, graduate education, extramural proposal development, research infrastructure acquisition and
operations, the regulatory compliance environment, and the campus culture. Should my candidacy proceed further, I would be
happy to share work products of this committee.
Finally, I chair the AUHSOP committee responsible for space allocation and regulatory compliance. This committee is
determining how the proposed comprehensive restructuring of the AUHSOP PharmD curriculum will affect allocation of
classroom space resources, how the opening of the new Pharmaceutical Sciences research building will create new space for
research and didactic graduate education and will free up space in the main AUHSOP building (the Walker Building), and how
the proposed creation of the 3-2 BS/MS partnerships and the ongoing expansion of the MS/PhD programs will create increased
demand for medium-sized (20 student) instructional spaces.
F. Commitment to diversity and equity
As a faculty member at the PUCOP, I participated in programs designed to promote the success and retention of PharmD students
who were members of under-represented groups. I also directed the PCCR minority summer undergraduate cancer research
program, which was supported by an administrative supplement to the NCI P30 center grant to the PCCR. I am currently a
member of the AU Faculty Outreach Council, a group that coordinates support for outreach initiatives throughout Alabama,
particularly in the underprivileged communities of the Black Belt. I am on AU representative at the University of Alabama at
Birmingham (UAB) Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences, responsible for coordinating AU engagement in outreach
activities in underserved regions throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Finally, I work with fellow AU Associate
Deans and Graduate Program Officers to support minority graduate/professional student recruitment and retention activities,
particularly in partnership with regional HBCUs and through the AU Bridge Program.
II. Alignment of Achievements with Desired Outcomes at the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy
A. Increasing extramurally-funded scholarly and outreach (clinical) activities
HSOP extramural funding has increased from <$500K/year in FY08-FY10 to ~$1.8M/year in FY11-15. As detailed elsewhere,
this has been accomplished through acquisition of research infrastructure, strategic faculty hiring, creation of partnerships with
funding agencies, and development of faculty incentives to spur pursuit of extramural funding. We anticipate future growth in the
AUHSOP research enterprise as a result of targeted AUHSOP faculty hires through the AU Pharmaceutical Engineering,
Omics/Informatics, and Health Disparities cluster hire programs and a result of opening our new Pharmaceutical Sciences
Research Building in August, 2017.
B. Growing entrepreneurial activity
Through my office, AUHSOP has partnered with the AU OVPRED to provide seed research and development funding (both
direct and SBIR/STTR cost sharing) in support of AUHSOP intellectual property, with the expectation that these efforts will
foster commercialization and licensing income for AUHSOP.
My office has pursued innovative approaches to graduate education, most notably the development of a Pharmaceutical
Engineering graduate degree program (in collaboration with GCOE), a Medicinal Chemistry graduate certificate program (in
collaboration with COSAM), and a PharmD-PhD program. We are anticipating the rollout of a PharmD-MPH program (in
collaboration with UAB) this Fall and the rollout of a 3-2 BS-MS program in collaboration with universities in the People’s
Republic of China in the Fall of 2017.
My office has also fostered innovative approaches to outreach and service learning, including community pharmacy residency
programs, a diabetes treatment and education program for the underserved in Montgomery (AL), and statewide wellness and
vaccination programs.
C. Enhancing undergraduate and graduate student recruitment
My office has driven an increase in graduate student stipend levels and developed an innovative scholarship program for PharmD
students. My office has fostered partnerships with institutions in a number of countries, including the People’s Republic of
China, Thailand, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, to support graduate education for international students. And, as noted earlier, we
have fostered the development of a number of interdisciplinary and dual-degree programs. As a consequence, our graduate
enrollment has more than doubled in the last 6 years, with only a minor impact on AUHSOP expenditures.
D. Assisting students in working towards long-term career goals
Our development of interdisciplinary and dual-degree programs has been in response to student demand for opportunities that are
more closely aligned with their long-term career goals. Moreover, my office has created partnerships with the AU Biggio Center
that offer graduate and professional students formal and informal career and personal development experiences, most notably
those that prepare students for careers in higher education.
E. Evidence of strategic planning, organizational management, program assessment, policy development, and innovative
transformation experiences.
The many initiatives that my office has pursued in support of the AUHSOP tripartite mission of research, education, and outreach
have been driven by the AUHSOP Strategic Plan and have been supported by a Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) process
that features continuous program assessment and annual review and revision of the HSOP Strategic Plan.
IV. Summary
Thank you for the opportunity to describe my background and qualifications for the position of Dean of the College of Pharmacy at
the University of South Carolina. I hope that my enthusiasm for the position is evident and I would be delighted to be considered
further for the position.
Best wishes,
David J. Riese II, PhD
George Fulton Gilliland & Olga Hooser Gilliland Franklin Professor
Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs
Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacy