AUSTIN, TexasDr. M. Lynn Crismon, professor of pharmacy practice and a nationally recognized expert in the area of psychiatric pharmacotherapy, has been appointed dean of The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy.
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Dr. M. Lynn Crismon |
Crismon’s appointment, effective Nov. 1, follows a nationwide search that began in January after Dr. Steven Leslie resigned as dean of the college to become the university’s executive vice president and provost. Crismon, who has been associate dean for clinical programs at the College of Pharmacy since 2004, has been serving as interim dean of the college since Jan. 15.
“Dr. Crismon is a skilled and visionary leader and I am confident that he will be an outstanding dean for the College of Pharmacy,” Leslie said.
Crismon said he is honored to have been chosen as dean of “one of the truly exceptional colleges of pharmacy at one of our nation’s premier universities.” He said he looks forward to collaborating with the college’s outstanding faculty and staff in efforts to take its exceptional education and research programs to even higher levels of excellence and productivity.
Crismon’s research and practice involve the development and evaluation of pharmacotherapy strategies to improve the health outcomes of people with mental disorders, particularly severe and persistent mental disorders seen in adults and children.
He was a leader of the Texas Medication Algorithm Project, which focused on pharmacotherapy strategies for treatment of severe mental disorders. In 2003, the project was featured in the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health’s interim report to President George W. Bush as a model for improving the quality of care for serious mental illness.
Crismon received a bachelor of science in pharmacy degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy in 1974 and a doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in 1979. He did residencies at the U.S. Public Health Service Gallup Indian Medical Center and at the San Antonio State Hospital. He also completed a National Endowment for the Humanities summer fellowship in biomedical ethics for study at the Georgetown University Kennedy Institute for Ethics.
The search committee that recommended Crismon was co-chaired by Dr. Robert O. Williams, the Johnson and Johnson Centennial Professor in Pharmacy, and Dr. Carlton Erickson, the Pfizer Centennial Professor in Pharmacy.
Williams said the search process yielded a highly competitive field of applicants, including three “all highly decorated persons in their respective fields” who were invited to interview on campus.
“We are pleased that Dr. Crismon was selected and has agreed to serve as dean,” Williams said. “He is a nationally recognized authority and comes ready to lead our college. On behalf of our faculty, staff and students, I have full confidence that Dr. Crismon will continue to move our college forward.”
For more information contact: Nancy Neff, 512-471-6504, or Robert D. Meckel, 512-475-7847.
