Current Distinguished Alumni Honorees

Sam Poloyac HeadshotSamuel M. Poloyac, PharmD, Ph.D. 

Samuel Poloyac has served as dean and the James T. Doluisio Regents chair at the University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy (UTCOP) since October 2020. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and subsequently received a Doctor of Pharmacy (’95) and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences (’99) from the University of Kentucky.

Before arriving at UT Austin, Poloyac served as professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and associate dean for graduate and postdoctoral programs at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. Currently, he is focused on leveraging UTCOP’s strength as a national leader in practice, education, and research to advance pharmacy innovation for health. Poloyac is equally committed to training the next generation of outstanding pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists to become bold problem-solvers, talented communicators, and leaders to revolutionize patient care and health outcomes in Texas and the world.

His research career has focused on determining the role of drug-metabolizing enzymes in regulating brain blood flow and drug clearance in critically ill patients. Research in his laboratory has received support from the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association, which led to over 115 peer-reviewed publications. He is a fellow of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Academic Leadership Program.