Meet the president

American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, Fall 1998 by Cocolas, George H

Jordan L. Cohen has been professor and dean of the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy since January 1988. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he received his BS in pharmacy in 1965 and PhD in 1969 in pharmaceutics from the University of Wisconsin in Madison under the guidance of Dr. Kenneth Connors. On graduation from Wisconsin, Jordan joined the faculty as Assistant Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy. There he developed and taught professional courses in Quantitative Analysis, and Pharmacy Preparations, and a graduate course in Qualitative Organic Chemistry. In 1973 Jordan took a position as Assistant Professor of Pharmacy at the Medical College of Virginia College of Pharmacy only to return to the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy in 1974. Back at Southern California, he became Associate Professor and then Director of the Clinical Pharmacokinetic Laboratory. This laboratory was licensed by the State of California for Special Clinical Chemistry and performed therapeutic drug analysis in support of patient care at the Los Angeles CountyUniversity of Southern California Medical Center. In 1979, he became coordinator of the Pharmaceutics Section of the School of Pharmacy, being responsible for budget, graduate and professional curricula, and faculty development and evaluation of the department, and in 1998 was promoted to professor.

Jordan Cohen's research has encompassed the areas of pharmaceutical analysis, clinical pharmacokinetics of anticancer and anti-AIDS agents, and disposition of drugs in the elderly. His research in the 1980s focused on the pharmacology and disposition of anti-neoplastic agents. Eventually this lead to a Comprehensive Cancer Center Core grant where he served as a co-PI for 13 years through the 1980s while at USC. Later his research interests developed in the area of clinical pharmacokinetic studies in the evaluation and treatment of AIDS patients.

In his role as coordinator of the Pharmaceutics Section at Southern California, Jordan influenced and helped many colleagues as they began their academic careers. He is a very giving person, serving as mentor to many helping them transition from graduate student to faculty member. In this capacity, he was an excellent role model. He was, and still is, a hard worker. He understands the value of a good balance between teaching and research in an academic institution. Colleagues at Southern California say he was often the first to arrive and the last to leave and marveled at his excellent work ethic.

Early in his academic career, Jordan expressed an interest in administration. His dean at Southern California, John Biles, provided an opportunity to participate in an executive management program to learn some basic skills. In 1986 Jordan Cohen took a one-year break from his academic duties at Southern California to be a Fellow of the American Council on Education in Academic Administration at the University of California-Irvine. During that year he served as Assistant to the Chancellor gaining considerable experience in administration. As a Fellow he designed and coordinated a university-wide long range planning retreat, wrote reports for the Office of the Chancellor, and participated in the budget process.

And so it was no surprise when, in 1988, Jordan Cohen was selected as Dean of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Kentucky. He was well-trained for the task at hand. The College of Pharmacy is in a setting that brings many administrative challenges. It is an integral part of a comprehensive academic health science center including the 450-bed University hospital, a large inpatient 300-bed Veterans Administration Medical Center and a 900-bed geriatric facility. Substantial interdisciplinary collaboration exists between the School of Pharmacy and the colleges and centers at the University of Kentucky.

Jordan's Cohen's broad base of science, education and administration has presented him with the opportunity to serve as a consultant to a variety of schools, and organizations. He has been a member of several accrediting teams for the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education, consultant to several pharmaceutical companies and federal agencies. Presently he is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the United States Pharmacopeial Convention. His affiliation with the USP began in 1980 when he was elected to the USP Committee on Revision in 1980 and from 1985-90 served as chairman of the Biopharmaceutics Subcommittee. In 1990, he was elected to the USP Board of Trustees and reelected in 1995, currently serving as Chairman of the Board.

Colleagues have described Jordan as an individual who has a good balance of the dimensions of pharmacy. He began his career in the bedrock of science and has transitioned his interest in pharmacy to issues of integrated delivery systems of health care. As an administrator he has demonstrated common sense and integrity. He is totally devoted to the profession of pharmacy. Jordan is an excellent speaker, putting his thoughts together so well that the listener often can internalize what he has said.. Jordan's philosophy is one in which he seeks to build broad alliances, looking at pharmacy as one part of an integral system with medicine and other health care members. In Kentucky, he is heavily involved in the establishment of a statewide coalition to promote the development or pharmaceutical care, and has served as a member of then task force which successfully revised the Pharmacy Practice Act in Kentucky, authorizing a much higher level of professional practice. He is also actively involved in economic development planning, serving as the University of Kentucky representative on the Lexington Chamber of commerce Board and working on behalf of Kentucky to enhance technology transfer and recruit high tech industry.