Riffee Named Associate Provost

David R. Colburn, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. William Riffee as the University of Florida’s first Associate Provost for Distance/Executive/Continuing Education, effective Feb. 1, 2001. Dr. Riffee will maintain his position as Dean of Pharmacy while serving half-time in his new role, which includes overseeing all non-traditional education at the University of Florida.

After considerable review of the university’s current status in the area of distance, executive and continuing education, it is clear that we need strong leadership to coordinate our activities, to fully involve the academic community, and to take advantage of new opportunities. Bill Riffee brings a unique combination of administrative experience, leadership and technological expertise to this effort.

Dr. Riffee received his bachelor of science in Pharmacy from West Virginia University in 1967 and a doctorate in pharmacology in 1975 from The Ohio State University. He moved through the academic ranks in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Texas at Austin. For many years, he served as the Director of the Learning Resources Center there and was active in curricular design.

Since 1990, Dr. Riffee has concentrated his research and teaching on distance education and educational technology and its utility in the classroom. He is a nationally-known innovator in the use of television and computer-based presentation technology. In 1997, Syllabus Press named him as one of five Syllabus Scholars charged with leadership in the organization’s annual conference, the Syllabus Institute and various regional conferences on information technology and its use in education.

In June of 1996, Dr. Riffee was named Dean and Professor for the College of Pharmacy. Under his leadership, the College of Pharmacy developed the Working Professional Pharm.D. Program, a distance education program that currently provides professional doctoral education to over 500 pharmacists nationwide.