William Petros, PharmD, FCCP, Gates Wigner Dean of the WVU School of Pharmacy, announced his intention to retire and conclude his tenure as dean by the end of the 2026-2027 academic year, or as soon as the position is filled. Clay Marsh, MD, chancellor and executive dean for WVU Health Sciences, appointed Louise Veselicky, DDS, associate vice president for health sciences academic affairs, to lead a comprehensive national search for Petros’s successor.
Appointed in 2017, Petros made university history as the first alumnus to lead the pharmacy program as its dean.
“It has been one of the greatest honors of my career to serve as Dean of the WVU School of Pharmacy—a profession, School, and University that I hold very dear to my heart," Petros said. "As I reflect on the past nine-plus years, I am filled with gratitude for what has made this journey so meaningful: our student-centered, nationally recognized faculty; our exceptionally talented and hard-working students and staff; as well as the truly remarkable alumni whose accomplishments, support, and engagement have enriched our School and the profession in many ways.”
Petros successfully leveraged his background in clinical pharmacy and translational oncology research to elevate the national profile of the School of Pharmacy, which currently ranks in the top third of pharmacy schools nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report. Under his leadership, the School expanded research and educational facilities, substantially increased shared clinical and research faculty positions with both internal and external partners, maintained a nationally high level of student achievement, and introduced an innovative direct admission pathway to streamline enrollment in addition to enhancing the student experience. The School also celebrated milestones in state advocacy, including the passage of the landmark West Virginia Provider Status Bill, and helped lead the State’s COVID-19 response.
"Bill embodies the very best of West Virginia University and what it means to be a Mountaineer," Dr. Marsh said. "As the first alumnus to lead the School of Pharmacy, his passion for our state, combined with his expertise in cancer research, helped transform the school into a national leader in pharmacy education and clinical research. Bill's visionary leadership has laid an enduring foundation for student success and clinical innovation that will benefit West Virginians for generations to come."
After graduating from the WVU School of Pharmacy in 1983, Petros earned his doctoral degree at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, then completed research training at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He was recruited from the Duke University Medical Center faculty in 2001 where he was conducting clinical cancer research and offered faculty appointments in the WVU Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine. He held the Mylan Chair of Pharmacology, was associate director for anti-cancer drug development and served a two-year term as interim director of the WVU Cancer Institute.
As the associate director of the Anti-Cancer Drug Development and director of the Clinical Pharmacology and Biospecimen Processing Cores at the WVU Cancer Institute, his research career was on the development of anti-cancer drugs, and particularly on identifying the factors that determine if a drug will work well in a specific patient or population of patients. This translational research is crucial to ensuring that new treatments developed in the laboratory are useful for cancer patients and their doctors.
He has published more than 100 articles in the areas of pharmacokinetics, pharmacogenomics and early phase anti-cancer drug studies and has served on a number of review committees for the National Institutes of Health and other national research organizations. In 2023, Petros was awarded Outstanding Dean of the Year by the American Pharmacists Association – Academy of Student Pharmacists. He is originally from Wheeling, West Virginia.
Details about the search process and opportunities for campus participation will be shared as they become available.
