James Arthur Owen, BS Pharm, PharmD, MBA

Dr. James A. Owen was the Vice President of Practice and Science Affairs at the American Pharmacists Association in Washington, DC. He served in this role until being diagnosed with a degenerative neurological condition called Multiple System Atrophy in 2020. In September 2020 he resigned from his position to obtain care and management of his condition. In his role he directed practice advancement activities including developing the framework for patient care service delivery; directed activities, developed and delivered education and was the liaison to the ASHP for the accreditation and expansion of APhA’s Community-based Pharmacy Residency Program; led the association’s role in Health Information Technology, medication safety, professional development and oversaw the Association’s Practice and Science Academies. In his final years, he developed the concept and co-led development of two innovative, web-based software solutions, Pharmacy Profiles ® for the credentialing of pharmacists and ADVANCE®, to facilitate the process of continuing professional development for members of the pharmacy profession. For over a decade while concurrently while working at APhA, he worked evenings and weekends as an Intermittent Staff Pharmacist, ultimately primarily in Intravenous Drug Preparation at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Prior to joining APhA, he was the Director of Clinical Services & Professional Development, for Happy Harry’s Inc., a regional chain headquartered in Newark, Delaware. In total he worked for nearly 30 years in pharmacy practice, the majority of which was dedicated to management. He graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy in 1990, completed his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in 2007, and received his MBA from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia in 2020. He was Board Certified in Pharmacotherapy by the Board of Pharmacy Specialties from 2009 until 2024.