Dr. Shauna Buring to retire in September

Shauna Buring, Pharm.D., associate dean for professional education in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, has announced her intent to retire in September. A nationwide search will begin immediately to identify a new associate dean for professional education, with the goal of filling the position by fall.

Shauna BuringBuring joined the UF College of Pharmacy in 2016 and made transformational changes to the Pharm.D. recruitment, admission and retention process. She played an instrumental role in the college receiving eight years of accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education in 2021, with full compliance on all 25 standards for the Pharm.D. program. In addition, she sought outside resources to help our students improve their Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination, or MPJE, pass rates at a time when many scores were falling nationally.

When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the spring 2020 semester, Buring led her team in transitioning the Pharm.D. curriculum online. She worked with faculty and preceptors to ensure students received the pharmacy practice experience needed for graduation and helped organize the college’s first virtual Pharm.D. commencement ceremony. When the time came to vaccinate our community, Buring stepped forward to organize clinics in association with UF Health and the Alachua County Department of Health. She recruited faculty and students to prepare and deliver vaccines to more than 60,000 individuals. UF recognized her vaccination efforts with a 2021-22 Superior Accomplishment Award.

As Buring prepares to step away this fall, she leaves behind an incredible legacy in academic pharmacy. In addition to UF, she held faculty positions at the University of Cincinnati James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy and the Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacy.