Matsumoto named new UH Hilo Dean of DKICP

Rae Matsumoto has been appointed the permanent dean of the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy.

Matsumoto’s appointment is effective Nov. 16. She replaces Interim Dean Miriam Mobley Smith.

UH-Hilo Chancellor Bonnie D. Irwin made the announcement following Thursday’s UH Board of Regents meeting.

Matsumoto currently is a professor of physiology and pharmacology at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., a position she has held since 2022.

Prior to that, she has held various administrative and faculty positions, including dean and professor of the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy at the University of the Pacific from 2020-2022, dean and professor of the College of Pharmacy at Touro University California from 2014-2020, and associate dean for research and graduate programs and professor at West Virginia University from 2007-2014.

She also has extensive educational program development experience and is the lead author or co-author of over 100 publications.

Matsumoto received her bachelor of science degree from Creighton University in Nebraska, and master of science degree and Ph.D. from Brown University in Rhode Island.

“I am excited to have Dr. Matsumoto join the UH-Hilo leadership team,” Irwin said in a statement. “She brings a wide variety of experience to the position and is prepared to lead the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy forward.”