Nigerian-Born Toyin Tofade has been appointed as the first black female president of the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (ACPHS) that was founded in 1881.
According to a recent press release by the college, Tofade was chosen to become the 10th president of the college after a comprehensive search.
The release read: “Dr Tofade is the first Black woman to serve as president of Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in the college’s 141-year history. She begins her term on July 1, 2022.”
Christopher Di Lascia, the Chairman of the presidential search committee said: “Dr Tofade possesses all the qualities desired, including her deep commitment to academic quality, scholarship, and service, as well as a proven track record of successful management and resource development…”
The release noted that since 2016, Tofade had served as the Dean and Professor at the Howard University College of Pharmacy in Washington, D.C. Since then, the college has almost doubled enrollment for the class of 2021; doubled the number of student internships; increased clinical, industrial and international partnerships; and received the maximum number of Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) re-accreditation years possible.
While accepting the new role, Tofade said: “It is an honour to be selected for this distinguished role by the Board of Trustees at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.”
Alumni giving grew by over 70 percent and the school’s student residency match rate grew from 36 per cent to over 50 percent.
While talking about her appointment, Anthony Wutoh, Provost and Chief Academic Officer of Howard University said: “Dean Tofade has been an integral part of the Howard University community for the past six years, and has represented the College of Pharmacy well as a respected leader.”
He said that although her departure is “certainly a loss” to the University, he was excited for her since she will expand her leadership responsibilities in her new role as president.
Tofade bagged a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. In 1994, she bagged a Master’s degree in pharmacy practice from UNC Chapel Hill and earned a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) from UNC Chapel Hill in 1997.
She was named Wake AHEC Mentor of the Year and was honoured by the internal medicine teaching service for her continued excellence and dedication to the internal medicine resident and student lecture in 2008.
She received an award for Excellence and Distinction in medicine and health from the Christian Association for Nigerian Americans in 2016.
As a leader in global professional pharmacy organisations, she was appointed in 2020 as president-elect of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) academic pharmacy section.
FIP is the global federation that represents over five million pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists worldwide.
In 2018, Tofade became the first Black woman to be named a FIP Fellow.
In 2020, she was appointed as chair-elect of the Council of Deans for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and has taken part in a variety of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion task forces in the United States.
