Dr. Thomas Baillie, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Dean Emeritus for the UW School of Pharmacy, has announced that he will be officially retiring from the University of Washington in March of 2016. Tom has had an enormous positive impact on the School of Pharmacy. He has been a tireless and highly effective advocate for our research, teaching and training missions within the School, UW, and across industry. Over the years, he has been a strong mentor and keen supporter of our faculty, students, trainees and alumni. Tom’s leadership and organizational skills were crucial to the continued success of our school during the financial austerity imposed by the recession of 2008. He led us through a difficult curricular revision process triggered by major changes in accreditation standards that ultimately led to full accreditation for the school.
Tom Baillie joined the faculty of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry in 1981. He conducted a vigorous NIH funded research program in mass spectrometry, biochemical reaction mechanisms and toxicity. In 1994, Tom accepted an opportunity to join Merck & Co. as the Executive Director of Preclinical Drug Metabolism in West Point. He rose through the ranks at Merck where he was awarded the position of Vice President and Global Head of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics. A key member of Merck leadership team, he was also responsible for a group of 350 scientists and staff spread over multiple locations worldwide. While at Merck, Tom maintained strong ties to the school and faculty and fostered close relations between the two institutions. In 2008, he and his wife Kathleen returned to Seattle when he was appointed Dean of the School of Pharmacy and Professor of Medicinal Chemistry. During his tenure as Dean, Tom served as Chair of the Board of Health Sciences Deans and Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives at the University of Washington. Having seen the School through the economic crisis and our successful reaccreditation, he stepped down as Dean at the end of his term in 2014 and returned to a full time appointment in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry.
During his long career as a scientist, Tom has made many high profile contributions in the areas of drug metabolism, drug toxicity and drug safety particularly as they relate to the drug discovery process. He is an author on over 250 publications and was recognized as one of the topmost cited (top 1%) researchers in the area of Pharmacology & Toxicology by Thompson Reuters for work begun here at UW in collaboration with our late Dean Emeritus Sid Nelson. He has received numerous honors and awards including a Fogarty Senior International Fellowship from the NIH, James R. Gillette Award from the American Society for Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, the Founders Award from the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Toxicology and the ISSX North American Scientific Achievement Award, in Honor of Ronald W. Estabrook. He has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Japanese Society for the Study of Xenobiotics, and the American Chemical Society.
We thank Tom for his service to our School and wish he and Kathleen the absolute best in their next adventures.
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