Sharon L. Youmans, PharmD, MPH, is a professor of clinical pharmacy and executive vice dean of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Pharmacy. Her teaching and research interests include public and global health, communication, cultural humility, health disparities, and pharmacy education and administration.
Since joining the faculty in 2001, Youmans has led initiatives that help underserved communities and foster an inclusive learning environment that supports the well-being of students, faculty, and staff.
For 15 years, Youmans has been the pharmacy school’s representative for UCSF’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. She led the transformation of the pharmacy school admissions process to encourage diversity, ushering in a system that considers candidates’ life experiences along with their academic record. She also helped to transform the PharmD program to better support students as they progress through their training.
In 2009, Youmans was named to the Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Advisory Board of the Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy. The board provides oversight and feedback on community-based projects and research opportunities for faculty, students, and trainees.
Youmans has served for a decade on the USCF Council on Campus Climate, Culture, and Inclusion. She is a member of a UCSF executive council that guides the university’s anti-racism initiative. She is also part of the University of California systemwide leadership collaborative that implements training materials and metrics in support of antiracism initiatives in the university’s health science schools.
Youmans is a member of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Board of Directors and has participated in several international accreditation evaluations.
Her professional honors include more than a dozen awards from the UCSF School of Pharmacy that recognize her work as an educator. She was named teacher of the yar in 2003. In 2015, she was honored with the UCSF 150th Anniversary Alumni Excellence Award. In 2016, Youmans received the UCSF Founders Champion Award in recognition of her contributions to DEI. She was named a Fellow of the American Pharmacists Association in 2013. In October 2023, Youmans received the UCSF Chancellor Award for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership, recognizing her outstanding leadership in expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion and advancing anti-racism.
Youmans received her PharmD degree from the UCSF School of Pharmacy in 1985 and completed a pharmacy residency at California Pacific Medical Center in 1986. She earned a master’s degree in public health from San Jose State University in 2005.