Nathaniel (Nate) Rickles, Pharm.D., Ph.D. has agreed to serve as associate dean for admissions and student affairs for the School of Pharmacy effective today for a five-year term.
Phil Hritcko, Dean, officially announced the appointment saying “I am excited to have Nate on the School of Pharmacy’s executive team. He is passionate about his work, committed to our students’ success, and will provide a wealth of insight and knowledge to the students he will be working with.”
“I look forward to helping advance the School’s ongoing efforts to provide students a supportive and engaging learning experience that ultimately gives them the toolkit they need to make a significant and transformative impact on the health and wellness of their communities,” says Rickles.
Rickles joined UConn as a tenured associate professor of pharmacy practice in August 2016. In addition to teaching and advising, Nate has devoted much of his time to his major areas of research and scholarship: medication adherence/safety, pharmacy communication, and methodological evaluation.
His externally funded projects have most recently included: The feasibility and effectiveness of an opioid package prototype (OPP) to impact opioid prescribing, dispensing, and patient use outcome; engaging community pharmacies as partners in advancing participation in the WISEWOMAN Program; academic detailing on opioid safety; and, enhancing mental health care through community pharmacist administration of long- acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIAs).
At UConn, Rickles has been an advisor to several pharmacy student organizations, a member of the Senate’s Scholastic Standards Committee, a member of the University’s Suicide Prevention Committee, and a pharmacy admissions interviewer. He is also active in his committee work for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy to advance pharmacy education for both undergraduate and graduate students.
Prior to UConn, Rickles was engaged in several committees and programs related to academic standards, awards, and admissions. Such engagement was at the levels of the School of Pharmacy, University, and across multiple professional associations.
Rickles earned his BS in Chemistry and Psychology from Dickinson College in 1991. He then received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1996. He spent the next year completing a residency in psychiatric pharmacy practice at The University of Texas College of Pharmacy at Austin and The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. He then went on to complete a MS in the Social Administrative Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, School of Pharmacy. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in mental health services research at the National Institute of Mental Health in 1999 and earned his Ph.D in Social and Administrative Sciences from the University of Wisconsin in 2003. Nate has been a pharmacy faculty member since 2003. He was previously at the pharmacy programs at Long Island University (Brooklyn) and Northeastern University.
More UConn Today stories on Rickles work at UConn:
Pharmacists and Students Learn Mental Health First Aid in New Seminar
Nathaniel Rickles Named 2018 APhA Fellow
