William A. Prescott Jr. has been appointed chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Prescott had served as interim chair of the department since 2017, playing a key role in faculty recruitment, mentoring faculty toward promotion, and creating and strengthening relationships with the school’s clinical partners.

He joined the UB faculty in 2004 and was promoted to clinical professor in 2018. He also serves as the vice executive officer for University Pharmacy Residency Services Inc., the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences’ clinical residency program.

Prescott’s clinical research focuses on pediatric infectious diseases and pulmonary disease, and his educational scholarship is centered on curriculum and active learning. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers and abstracts.

In 2010, he led a team in creating the school’s Scholars Program, an initiative designed to prepare academically excellent students for postgraduate residency training. He also played a leadership role in introducing simulation-based learning and advancing the application of objective structured clinical examinations into the school’s curriculum.

He is a recipient of a Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2017, as well as a 2013 American College of Apothecaries Albert R. Rosica, Jr. Memorial Award, the 2015 UB Teaching Innovation Award, and the 2007 and 2011 School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences’ Teacher of the Year Award.

Prescott is a fellow in the Mid-American Conference Academic Leadership Development Program and a member of the editorial board of the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, and the board of directors of the New York State Council of Health-System Pharmacists.

He has also served as chair of the pediatric pharmacy special interest group of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.

Prescott received his PharmD from UB.