John Pieper, PharmD '79, speaks at 2019 commencement

Pieper discussed the profound impact the school and university had on him and on his career.

"My years here at the School of Pharmacy [and Pharmaceutical Sciences] were transformative in developing me as a person, a clinician, a clinical scientist and an academician. The faculty here instilled in me the ability and the confidence to take risks, the ability and confidence to know that I can accomplish whatever I set my heart on."

He stressed the importance of having a mentor and being a mentor, and encouraged each graduate to incorporate creativity and originality into every aspect of their career.

"The exploration of who you are, to dream who you might become, and then to develop a path to achieve your dream is the whole purpose of your education here at UB."

Pieper is currently the president of St. Louis College of Pharmacy. He previously served as professor and dean of the College of Pharmacy at University of New Mexico (UNM), with concurrent appointments as vice president for research and deputy executive vice president at UNM Health Sciences Center in Albuquerque. Pieper was also a senior fellow at Robert Wood Johnson Center for Health Policy at UNM and was adjunct professor, facultad de farmacia, at Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Prior to his appointment at UNM, Pieper served as professor and chairman of the Division of Pharmacotherapy at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Pharmacy and as associate dean for clinical programs and founding chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice at University of Colorado School of Pharmacy. He has also held faculty positions in the colleges of pharmacy at University of Tennessee and at University of Florida.

Pieper has more than 80 peer-reviewed research publications and approximately 100 published research abstracts in the areas of cardiovascular pharmacotherapy, pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism. He is a past president of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), a fellow of ACCP, and he has been a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist with added qualifications in cardiology.