The Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS), an autonomous division of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), has announced the upcoming retirement of its Executive Director, Richard J. Bertin, Ph.D., RPh, at the end of this year. Dr. Bertin has led BPS since 1997. Among the many milestones achieved under his leadership are BPS approval of a new specialty in Ambulatory Care, implementation of a process for Added Qualifications credentials, expansion of the Board’s staff, and receipt of accreditation from the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. The number of board-certified pharmacists increased from less than 3,000 to almost 9,000 during this period.

The BPS Board of Directors is initiating a search process to identify qualified candidates to succeed Dr. Bertin. A search committee, chaired by BPS Chair-Elect George H. Hinkle, M.S., BCNP, will oversee the search process. The Bernard Consulting Group, Inc., based in Kansas City, Missouri, will conduct the search. In the next few weeks, an official announcement containing details of the position and search process will be released. The Board plans to interview finalists for the position in August 2010 and announce Dr. Bertin’s successor by September 1, 2010. This individual will then begin employment at BPS in October 2010 and officially become the Executive Director on January 1, 2011.

Please submit the names of potential candidates, as well as comments or questions about the search process, to The Bernard Consulting Group, Inc., c/o Laura New at [email protected].