Former UM Pharmacy Dean Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Wells was formally presented with the award at AACP’s annual meeting in July.

“I am honored, humbled and immensely grateful,” she said. 

Wells was quick to share the credit, noting how partnering and collaborating with others throughout her career enabled herself and her colleagues to greatly magnify what they could accomplish working independently.

The first female dean of the School of Pharmacy, Wells led the school for more than a decade. During that time, she was instrumental in helping to improve and expand the school’s facilities, noting the valuable contributions of her associate deans, Leigh Ann Ross, Charles Hufford, Marvin Wilson and others, to those projects.

The largest physical expansion during Wells’ tenure was the construction of the pharmacy practice building at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. Other expansions included the school’s 250-seat auditorium, complete with an atrium, on the Oxford campus and an addition to Faser Hall.

“Congratulations to Dean Emeritus Barbara Wells on receiving this well-deserved award from AACP,” said Donna Strum, dean of the School of Pharmacy. “Her dedication, passion and unwavering commitment to excellence in pharmacy education have been an inspiration to all of us.”

Wells grew up in Memphis, Tenn., where she would one day go on to raise her own family. Her father was the owner of two Memphis pharmacies, while her grandfather was the owner of a pharmacy in Leachville, Ark. 

Wells said she knew since her freshman year of high school that she wanted to work in healthcare.

“I was inspired early on by the services my father and grandfather provided in community pharmacy and by how they were perceived in their communities,” she said.

She earned her bachelor’s degree and doctoral degree in pharmacy from the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy and completed a residency in psychiatric pharmacy practice. She served at UT, Samford University and Idaho State University before landing at Ole Miss, where she remained for more than a decade.

Wells has served as president of the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists Foundation, a member of the National Institutes of Health’s Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health and a member of the Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. For 25 years, she also co-authored and co-edited three therapeutics textbooks published by McGraw Hill

Within AACP, she served as president and chair of the board of directors. Within the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, she served as president and chair of the Board of Regents and vice chair of the AACP Research Institute.

With a wealth of experience, Wells offered some advice to anyone aspiring to a leadership role within healthcare or healthcare education.

“Always have an up-to-date personal strategic plan and at least one mentor,” she said. “Learn throughout life, and take advantage of all opportunities to develop your strengths and skill set.

“Be a mentor, and be generous in giving credit to others who deserve it. Love your neighbors, and treat them with kindness, fairness, gratitude and humility.”

By Lily Green