SVEIN OIE CHOSEN AS DEAN OF UGA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY

ATHENS, Ga. --Svein Oie, a senior professor at the University of California San Francisco School of Pharmacy who has more than 30 years experience in pharmacy research, teaching and administration, has been chosen to be dean of the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy.

Oie will succeed Stuart Feldman, who will remain on the faculty of the pharmacy college.

Oie is one of three finalists recommended to UGA President Michael F. Adams by a search committee headed by Keith Prasse, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. His appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2000, pending approval by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.

Karen Holbrook, UGA's senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, said George Francisco, associate dean, will serve as interim dean through fall semester.

Oie (pronounced Ooy-ah) has been at the UCSF pharmacy school since 1976. Widely regarded as one of the nation's best pharmacy schools, the UCSF school ranks first nationally in federal research funding.

Oie is a professor in the departments of biopharmaceutical sciences and pharmaceutical chemistry, and is co-director of the school's graduate program in pharmaceutics.

Among his accomplishments at UCSF was overseeing the development of a new curriculum for the school's Professional Pharmacy Program, and helping create a master's degree program in pre-clinical drug development.

He led a task force involved in merging clinical programs at UCSF and Stanford Medical Center, and helped develop UCSF's contribution to a joint bioengineering program with the University of California at Berkeley.

As chair of the UCSF Academic Senate, the school's top faculty policy-setting body, Oie won praise for representing faculty concerns while working closely with the administration on difficult institutional issues such as curriculum revision and financial cutbacks.

In response to a reduction in federal research funding, Oie led a study on how to make better use of money recovered through federal and private indirect costs. The study resulted in strategies to secure more than $9 million for USCF through indirect cost recovery.

He brings a strong research background to his new post, having conducted extensive studies on drug absorption and drug targeting, and factors that affect the disposition and activity of drugs in the body. He has received research grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association, and is author or co-author of more than 85 articles, book chapters, reports and other research publications.

"I am delighted and excited about Dr. Oie's selection," said UGA President Michael F. Adams. "His research perspective and experience will not only benefit the College of Pharmacy, but will be especially important in implementing the biomedical initiatives I outlined in my State of the University address this year.

"I congratulate Provost Holbrook and the search committee on identifying three outstanding finalists for this position. I believe Dr. Oie is the ideal choice to lead our College of Pharmacy to new levels of excellence."

UCSF colleagues describe Oie as cordial, articulate, deliberative and a skillful mediator who brings together people with divergent viewpoints. Friends say he combines a deep knowledge of scientific issues in pharmacy research with a thorough understanding of the economic forces changing the health care industry.

Holbrook said Oie's experience at the UCSF pharmacy school will help the UGA College of Pharmacy in many ways.

"Dr. Oie's great strength is the balance he possesses in research expertise, knowledge of the pharmacy profession and interpersonal skills," Holbrook said. "He will build collaborative interdisciplinary relationships among the faculty, and strengthen the college's outreach to alumni and pharmacy professionals.

"The deans and vice presidents have expressed their enthusiasm for working with Dr. Oie toward continuing a bright future for the college and the institution."

Oie received his undergraduate pharmacy degree from the University of Oslo in Norway in 1967 and worked there three years as a research assistant. He earned a doctorate in pharmaceutics from the State University of New York in 1975, and joined UCSF the next year.

He has been a consultant to several pharmaceutical firms, and worked with the U.S. Veterans Administration as a research proposal evaluator. He has served on the editorial boards of professional journals, and has been a visiting professor or lecturer at a number of schools in the U.S. and abroad.