Gladys Heard graduated from Auburn University's Harrison College of Pharmacy in 2019 and joined the faculty on Oct. 14, 2019. She currently is part of the Division of Academic Programs, serving as the Curricular Coordinator for students on the Mobile campus. As the Curricular Coordinator, she provides curriculum, classroom, assessment and administrative support as well as coordinating the skills laboratory experience throughout the Doctor of Pharmacy program for all three didactic years on the Mobile campus. Heard works with a team of faculty and administrators to implement a variety of learning experiences. The program emphasizes student-centered learning, active learning, experiential integration of competencies and skills from all areas across the pharmacy curriculum. Heard earned a master's degree in education from Grand Canyon University in 2010 and followed up with a Master of Science degree from Touro University in 2015. She earned her Pharm.D. from the Harrison College of Pharmacy in 2019. A native of El Paso, Texas, she has been a pharmacist with Walgreens since 2018 and is active within the Alabama Pharmacy Association and American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. She and her husband, Herman Doriean Heard, live in Mobile.

Erika L. Kleppinger, Pharm.D., BCPS is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice. Since joining the faculty at the Harrison School of Pharmacy in 2003, she has practiced in several ambulatory care practice settings, coordinated and taught in a variety of skills laboratory activities, and worked passionately on curriculum development and revision. Dr. Kleppinger graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 2001 with a doctor of pharmacy degree. After graduation, she completed two years of post-graduate residency training – a Pharmacy Practice residency at Temple University Hospital and a Primary Care specialty residency at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in association with the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. In 2003, Dr. Kleppinger became a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS) and from 2006-2016 she was a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE). During the first seven years after joining the faculty of HSOP, Dr. Kleppinger practiced as a Clinical Pharmacist Specialist at the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System (CAVHCS), managing patients with diabetes and lipid abnormalities. Additionally she practiced as a Clinical Pharmacist in the Auburn University Pharmaceutical Care Center (AUPCC) for two years assisting with wellness screenings and medication management education. Currently Dr. Kleppinger dedicates most of her time to skills activity coordination and assessment with Objective Structured Clinical Exams (OSCEs) and other performance-based assessments. She teaches in many areas of the Practice-Ready Curriculum, including patient assessment skills, communication skills (specifically assessing patient understanding and new prescription counseling), the pharmacists’ patient care process, self-care, dermatology, cough and cold management, and immunization certification training. She also serves as a Skills Coordinator and a Learning Experience Coordinator for the first professional year of the PharmD program.