2013 Outstanding Alumnus Award Winner
The Distinguished Service to Pharmacy Award is presented to an individual, organization, or corporation in recognition of their service to the pharmacy profession. This year’s award is bestowed upon Dr. Kenneth Boyett Roberts.
Kenneth B. Roberts received a B.S. in pharmacy and MBA in marketing from the University of Tennessee, and a Ph.D. in health care administration from the University of Mississippi. He served as dean of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy from 1989 to 2000. Dr. Roberts served as dean of the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy from 2000 to 2009. Currently he is the Earl P. Sloan Professor of Community Pharmacy Leadership and Dean Emeritus. He has also served at the University of Texas (1975-77) and University of Tennessee (1979-89, Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs) Colleges of Pharmacy.
Dr. Roberts served as Executive Director of the Missouri Foundation for Pharmaceutical Care (1977-79) and various admistrative roles including Executive Director of the American College of Apothecaries (1979-87). He has served in various research roles as a student research assistant, graduate research assistant, co-investigator, project director and principal investigator (PI). He has served as PI on more than 40 funded projects totaling greater than $12,000,000. He has published more than 150 scientific and professional articles and abstracts as well as authored and co-authored 12 books and manuals addressing pharmacy practice and the economics of practice management. He has been invited to address professional, scientific and business forums resulting in more than 700 presentations throughout the United States and around the world.
Under his leadership, the University of Kentucky program regained its position as a Top 5 College of Pharmacy in the United States (U.S. News and World Report, April, 2008) and the highest nationally ranked academic program in Kentucky. In 2006, the College occupied a current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) manufacturing facility for sterile product dosage forms (20,000 gross square feet, $18 million construction cost). The Pharmaceutical Sciences Department was ranked 4th among 350 national peers by Academic Analytics in 2008 for academic achievement, scholarship and research productivity. The Pharmacy Residency Program, in partnership with the UK Chandler Medical Center Hospital was selected the Nation’s Most Outstanding in 2007. College of Pharmacy graduates achieved the highest past rates on the North American Pharmacy Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) as a class compared with all other college of pharmacy graduating classes in the nation over 8 consecutive years (2001-08). In 2009 the College occupied a new 286,000 gsf education and research facility with projected construction cost of $165 million ($120 million from state funds). While at the University of Mississippi he marshaled resources and planning to construct 140,000 gsf of facilities including the National Center for Natural Products Research and implemented the entry level and post bacculaurette Doctor of Pharmacy degree programs.
He was Chair, Council of Deans, and American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and served on the AACP Board of Directors (1996-99). He serves on the Board of Directors – The International Federation of Pharmacists Foundation. Recognition includes: Distinguished Alumnus, University of Mississippi, 2003; Distinguished Service Award, KY Pharmacists Association, 2011; Outstanding Dean, APhA, Academy of Students, 2009; Distinguished Achievement Award, KY Society of Health System Pharmacists, 2009; Innovative Practice Award, MS Society of Health-System Pharmacists, 1998; Outstanding Leadership in Pharmacy Education Award, American College of Apothecaries, 1998
Dr. Roberts is a native of Sharon, Tennessee and a veteran of the U.S. Navy Medical Service Corp (1967-71). He’s been married to Kittye Rice Roberts (UT Nursing ’67 & ’85) for 45 years. They are the proud parents of two daughters and two grand-daughters.
View Past Pharmacy Award Winners