The Medical College of Wisconsin announced on Tuesday that Dr. George MacKinnon III has been named founding dean of the Medical College of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy. MacKinnon will provide leadership and management of MCW’s new school, which expects to matriculate its first class of doctor of pharmacy students in 2017 or 2018.
Currently, MacKinnon serves as founding dean and professor of pharmacy, and vice provost for health sciences at Roosevelt University’s College of Pharmacy in Chicago.
“Dr. MacKinnon has been involved in a leadership capacity in the establishment and accreditation of three new colleges of pharmacy in the United States, making him an ideal leader for the MCW School of Pharmacy,” said Dr. John Raymond Sr., president and chief executive officer of MCW. “His extensive experience and expertise will help drive the vision we have for the school, as well as meet our end goal of training highly-qualified pharmacists who will provide extended services in medication monitoring, immunizations, health screenings, chronic disease management, acute ambulatory care, and specialty pharmacy care.”
As founding dean of the MCW School of Pharmacy, MacKinnon will serve as chief operating officer, recruit and hire key leadership and faculty, secure and maintain professional accreditation in pharmacy, lead the faculty in strategic planning, identify new practice models, design and develop an innovative curriculum, and identify and cultivate opportunities for research and collaboration.
MCW will open its school of pharmacy to address an overall need for highly-qualified pharmacists who can provide expanded services as part of a health care team, as well as address pharmacist maldistribution in underserved communities in Wisconsin. The school of pharmacy will offer specialty tracks aligned with health needs such as in pediatrics, psychiatry, cancer, pharmacogenomics, cardiovascular diseases, population health and specialty pharmacy.
For 25 years, MacKinnon has engaged in clinical practice, research, teaching and academic administration through joint academic appointments in medicine and pharmacy at educational institutions such as Saint Louis College of Pharmacy, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and Roosevelt University’s College of Pharmacy.
His previous appointments include vice president of academic affairs with the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy in Alexandria, Va., and director of global health economics and outcomes research of Abbott Laboratories.
MacKinnon has delivered more than 100 presentations, written more than 60 publications and has authored four book chapters in pharmacy and the health sciences. From 1996-2006, he served as the founding editor of InetCESM, one of the first internet-based continuing education publications. In 2000, he was recognized by his peers as a Fellow of the American Society of Health–System Pharmacists and in 2003 was the recipient of the Service to Pharmacy Award from the Arizona Pharmacists Association. He remains active and engaged in several professional associations at the state, national and international levels.
MacKinnon received a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy in 1988 and a Master of Science degree in hospital pharmacy in 1990, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy. He completed two years of post-graduate clinical pharmacy residency training at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. He also earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in educational leadership and policy studies from Loyola University, Chicago, in 2001. He is a registered pharmacist and served as assistant pharmacy director of clinical services at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Belleville, Illinois, from 1990-1993.
