Professor Stephan Schmidt, Ph.D., F.C.P., has been appointed chair of the Department of Pharmaceutics in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, effective Jan. 1, 2026.
As chair, he will lead a department of 18 full-time faculty members and more than 50 graduate students and trainees across the Gainesville and Orlando campuses, supporting wide-ranging research programs from drug formulation to pharmacometrics. The department maintains nearly 50 active grants from federal agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the pharmaceutical industry, foundations and other funding sources.
Schmidt’s promotion builds upon an impressive record of service and leadership in the Department of Pharmaceutics. He currently serves as the Certara Endowed Professor and the director of the Center for Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology, or CPSP, and previously served as associate chair of the department. Since joining the faculty in 2012, he has played a key role in expanding pharmacometrics and model-informed drug development activities at the Orlando campus, helping build a training program now recognized among the world’s best.
“Dr. Schmidt has shown exceptional leadership by investing in others, serving as a mentor and role model for pharmaceutical scientists throughout his career at UF,” said Peter W. Swaan, Ph.D., M.Pharm., dean and professor in the UF College of Pharmacy. “His extensive connections across academia and industry, combined with his dedication to maintaining the Department of Pharmaceutics’ standing in the scientific community, make him well-suited for this new leadership role.”
A native of Germany, Schmidt’s career has been closely linked to UF since he first arrived as an intern in the mid-2000s. Mentored by the late Hartmut Derendorf, Ph.D., a former distinguished professor emeritus in the UF College of Pharmacy, Schmidt transitioned from intern to doctoral student, completing his Ph.D. at UF in 2008. After three years of postdoctoral training in The Netherlands, he returned to UF in 2012 to collaborate with Lawrence Lesko, Ph.D., a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in establishing the CPSP.
As a scientist, Schmidt has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on more than 70 grants and contracts and has secured more than $15 million in funding. His scholarly contributions include more than 190 peer-reviewed publications, 10 book chapters and two textbooks, including the 5th edition of Rowland and Tozer’s Clinical Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics, a leading textbook in quantitative clinical pharmacology.
More importantly, Schmidt has always valued his role as a mentor. He has trained 38 postdoctoral fellows, 25 international scholars, 19 Ph.D. students and four research assistant professors during his tenure at UF. Many trainees have transitioned into successful careers in academia, the pharmaceutical industry and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“I am humbled and deeply honored to step into the role of chair for the Department of Pharmaceutics,” Schmidt said. “Nearly 22 years ago, UF welcomed me as an exchange student from Germany for what was supposed to be a six-month stay. The experience was so meaningful that I chose to remain, earn my Ph.D. and later return as a faculty member. Having the chance to contribute to the department in this new way is incredibly rewarding.”
Schmidt’s leadership has been widely recognized, including the 2025 Leadership Award from the International Society of Pharmacometrics. He also received the 2023 UF Research Foundation Professorship Award and the 2021 Excellence in Academia Award from the MIDD+ Scientific Conference hosted by SimulationPlus. These and earlier national and international honors reflect his sustained leadership in the field. Schmidt succeeds Thomas Schmittgen, Ph.D., a professor of pharmaceutics, who held the chair position since 2018.