Wilkes University has selected Jonathan D. Ference as the dean of the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy. Ference, a 2003 graduate of the Nesbitt School, previously served as associate provost for student success at Wilkes. He began his new role on June 1.
In his 15 professional years at Wilkes, Ference has served as an associate professor, director of pharmacy care labs and assistant dean of assessment and alumni affairs within the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy, before his most recent position as associate provost. After earning his PharmD from Wilkes, he completed a family medicine pharmacy residency and faculty development fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center – St. Margaret. He then spent four years at the University of Oklahoma prior to returning to Wilkes in 2008.
Ference’s clinical expertise is in family medicine. From 2008 through 2015, in addition to his role at Wilkes, Ference held the role of director of pharmacotherapy education at the Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education. His work in family medicine allowed him to teach physicians and student-pharmacists to care for patients of all ages.
Founded in 1996, the Nesbitt School of Pharmacy is the region’s only school of pharmacy. The school develops pharmacists who will provide high-quality health care and make meaningful contributions to the science and practice of pharmacy. The school awards the doctor of pharmacy degree, the primary, entry-level pharmacy practice degree in the United States.
Ference becomes the third dean of the Nesbitt School. He and his wife, Kimberly Ference, associate professor of pharmacy practice at Wilkes and 2003 pharmacy alumna, reside in the Back Mountain with their children, Jack and Katie.
