When Erik Maki, the newly-appointed dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Drake University, set out to start a career, education was not where he headed first. As a pharmacy student, he was fortunate enough to work with professionals whose passion for what they did made a lasting impression.
In the end, it was a combination of the example set by his father, who was also a professor, and those positive experiences with the faculty and pharmacists he studied under that led him to become an educator.
“One of my first career goals was to not be that burnt out, grumpy, angry person at work,” Maki said. “I thought [that as] a teacher, the opportunities to grow and to learn and to work with students would be a great way to have a fulfilling career.”
Collaboration, care and building strong relationships – that’s what Maki would say has been the driving force behind his career. He joined CPHS as an assistant professor in 2005 and has been heavily involved in the Drake community ever since.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Maki headed a team that helped administer thousands of tests and vaccines to the Drake community.
“The amount of volunteerism and personal sacrifice that the people I work with, as well as our students, put in [made it] a really inspiring effort to be part of,” Maki said. “I’ve seen how much everyone here is all in this together, and I think we have a great group of people, not only in this college but in this university.”
When the search committee, co-chaired by Dr. Rachel Allen-McHugh and Dr. Ron Torry, began to look for Dean Emerita Renae Chesnut’s replacement in mid-November of last year, they used criteria crafted using faculty input to help narrow their search.
“We had a lot of people, including CPHS faculty, staff, students, alumni, university administrators and outside partners, engaged with each candidate,” Torry said. “It was a tough decision, [which] was a good problem to have.”
In the end, Maki’s commitment to the college shone through.
“The new dean has a long history of the college and its culture, but [also] an innovative mindset to try new things,” said Dr. Chuck Phillips, professor of pharmacy administration and associate dean of CPHS.
Maki knows he has big shoes to fill, but said he is more than up for the challenge.
“Renae [Chesnut] is a legend at Drake,” Maki said of his predecessor. “I’ve had many opportunities to watch and learn from the example she sets, and I hope to build on the example she set for me.”
Maki officially stepped into his new role on July 1, though he said much of the month prior was spent meeting with CPHS faculty and staff to establish and reaffirm connections. In his new role, Maki hopes to continue to build relationships with students, faculty, staff and alumni. According to him, “that’s probably the best part [of the job].”
“I think our future is really bright here. We have a tremendous group of faculty, staff and students. We’re going to do a lot of great things together.” – Maki
Being dean is just another accomplishment to add to the list of things Maki never imagined himself doing.
“It’s really unbelievable,” he said. “If you would have asked me when I started my career, I never would have guessed that I would have been a dean, or maybe even a department chair. It’s been a fun journey.”
