Faculty
Debbie Byrd, PharmD, MBA
Dean of Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, Interim Dean of College of Nursing , Professor
- byrddc1@etsu.edu
- 423-439-2068
- Building 7, Room 207
Debbie C. Byrd, PharmD, MBA is Dean of East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy. Previous administrative leadership experience includes roles as Associate Dean for Professional Affairs and Assistant Dean for a new distance education campus, serving as Director of Experiential Learning and as Director for Primary Care and Rural Primary Care Residency Programs, and representing the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Teachers of Pharmacy Practice as chair of the section. A professor of Pharmacy Practice, Dr. Byrd’s practice experience includes development of new patient care services for underserved Family Medicine patients at sites including a private community hospital, rural mobile health clinic, rural private practice, and a large academic medical center. Honored as a Preceptor of Excellence, her leadership in education includes curricular redesign, faculty orientation and mentoring programs, formal resident teaching and learning program activities, and an academia and leadership APPE.
Dr. Byrd is a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy and completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis followed by a Primary Care Specialty Residency at the National Institutes of Health. She began the first ten years of her academic career at Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacy, followed by another decade at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Byrd is a graduate of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education Management Development Program and the AACP Academic Leadership Fellows Program (ALFP).
She serves as a Dean mentor and facilitator for the ALFP, a member of the AACP Leadership and Management Academy Advisory Board, and an ACPE site visitor. Dr. Byrd received the AACP Anne Marie Liles Distinguished Service Award in 2021; in collaboration with Ballad Health established the Center for Pharmacy Education, Advocacy and Outreach in 2022; and advocated with ETSU leaders and the Tennessee General Assembly to secure a $2.5 million annual appropriation for Gatton College of Pharmacy in 2023. Under her leadership the college’s US News and World Report Ranking improved to third among pharmacy schools established since 2005, and fourth among all colleges across Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia. She and her husband, Robert, have been married over thirty years and are proud parents of Noah and Nathan.