University of Kentucky promotes College of Pharmacy Dean Tim Tracy to provost

The University of Kentucky named Tim Tracy, dean of the College of Pharmacy, as its chief academic officer Wednesday evening.

Tracy will begin work as UK provost on Monday, said President Eli Capilouto.

"Tim is an accomplished scholar and academic leader, which has been clear since he joined our campus community in 2010," Capilouto said in a news release. "In addition, having served for more than a year as interim provost during a time of both challenge and progress gives him a unique ability to hit the ground running as we tackle the significant opportunities we have as an institution with tremendous momentum."

Soon after former provost Christine Riordan announced in December that she would leave to become president of Adelphi University, Capilouto said he would initiate a speedy and internal search because of ongoing initiatives, such as a new strategic plan and programs to improve student graduation and retention rates.

Tracy and David Blackwell, dean of the College of Business and Economics, were named finalists for the job this month. Tracy served as interim provost for more than a year in 2012 and 2013.

"I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to work with world-class faculty at an institution that means so much to me and to the Commonwealth of Kentucky that we serve," Tracy said. "I look forward to beginning my work in collaboration with faculty, staff and students as we continue our efforts to ensure that UK is one of the handful of thriving public residential research campuses in America."

Tracy received a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Ohio Northern University and a doctorate in clinical pharmacy from Purdue University, and he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical pharmacology at Indiana University. He was a faculty member at West Virginia University and the University of Minnesota before coming to UK in 2010 as pharmacy dean.

He has been principal investigator and co-investigator on numerous grants funded by the National Institutes of Health and other agencies.

Andrew Hippisley, chairman of the UK Faculty Senate Council, applauded the decision.

"I think Tim Tracy is an excellent choice for UK at this point, where we need a provost who will get the job done," he said.

Riordan was the first woman to serve as provost at UK and was one of the few women among the mostly white men who report directly to Capilouto, but her tenure lasted less than 18 months. She is staying at UK as a special projects director until she takes over at Adelphi on July 1.

Of the 11 people who now report directly to Capilouto, two are women and one is a black man.

This story was originally published February 18, 2015 at 5:22 PM with the headline "University of Kentucky promotes College of Pharmacy Dean Tim Tracy to provost."